


Angels of Small Death and the Codeine Scene

by AmericanNiemand



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Adora is a badass, But mostly angst, But they can be messed up together, Fluff and Angst, Gun Violence in Later Chapters, Lovers to Idiots to Lovers, Modern AU, Multi, WIP, and never will be, any inaccuracies, catra's doing her best, crazy mom friend glimmer, dad friend bow, definitely not a lack of research, i'm not a cop, is officially a conscious decision, no beta we die like jolly fools, now mostly just adora, slow burn but also not?, some underage college drinking, started as both catra and adora POV, that my universe is different, they're both pretty messed up, this Universe isn't really like real life or canon, to real life law enforcement
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 31,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26079175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AmericanNiemand/pseuds/AmericanNiemand
Summary: Adora is the newest member of the Etheria SWAT Team. Catra is just trying to pay rent for the month. And now she has to replace the goddamn door.Both of them are in debt to very powerful people, both are just trying to keep it together for a couple more years.But life very rarely goes how we expect it.Was it really random chance they've met?
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Adam, He-Man | Adam & Adora (She-Ra)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 165





	1. [doors] blowing up, ringing my doorbell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well this is gonna be awkward

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

As far as Adora was concerned, this was supposed to be a routine op. She should’ve known that life was gonna pull this shit. The second Sea Hawk taps her shoulder, she feels the door knob slightly. Unsurprisingly, it’s locked. She holds up a fist silently, letting Sea Hawk get the battering ram ready. She fights to keep her heart rate steady as she holds up three fingers, then two, then one. With a shout Sea Hawk comes around her side and smashes the door in. Adora flinches as splinters come flying back at them.

She rushes through the new opening, rifle at her shoulder. Cheek waiting inches from its rest.

“Police!” she shouts, barrel sweeping center to left edge, careful with the trigger, always careful with the trigger. Behind her Sea Hawk does the same, but to the right.

“Shit,” she mutters, already thinking the lady had skipped town.

“Let’s go!” she says, loudly enough for Sea Hawk to hear. They shuffle through the living room, and hurry into the halls, which sends adrenaline coursing through her veins. That anxious energy already setting in. It occurs to her vaguely that they should have more people.

They take turns opening doors. Clearing each room. What was Hordak thinking? Only sending two people to actually clear this place.

“Any luck?” Huntara’s voice crackles over comms.

“None,” Adora whispers back. She was officially getting bad vibes from this place. Every room had a growing sense of dread.

She stops dead in her tracks when she hears snoring, _very_ familiar snoring. She holds up a fist and nods at the door it’s coming from. She knocks as loudly as she can and almost screams “POLICE!” before giving it another few seconds. The snoring had definitely stopped.

She grimaces for a moment, before kicking in the door and entering.

Yup… it was definitely Catra.

God were they fucked

The entire situation, was so incredibly fucked.

Catra for her part was looking pretty nonchalant about two SWAT officers aiming assault rifles in her general direction. At least for a moment.

Her eyes go wide with panic. “It wasn’t me!” and throws her hands up. At least she wasn’t being difficult like she usually did. Adora chuckles at her own idiocy. Of course she wasn’t. Adora eases her rifle down, letting the weight of it rest on her sling.

“What do you think we’re here for?” Sea Hawk asks suspiciously.

“Whatever you think I did. Which, by the way, I definitely did not do,” Catra’s hands haven’t moved, even if she was looking between the two of them.

“Listen. Are you good to leave? Clothing-wise I mean,”

Cart’s eyes narrow and Adora’s heart slams against her ribs. Of course she already knew. “Not really,”

“Cool, then uhh. We’ll wait outside for you to get ready, and then uhh. Handcuffs come next probably, aaand then we have to go down to the Precinct,”

“Any reason why?” Catra’s arms have relaxed a little which is good.

“It’s a uh, direct order that you come with us. And even if it weren’t, it’s standard procedure for our department. You just would’ve received, uh special leniencies,” Adora mutters, grabbing Sea Hawk’s collar as she backs out of the room, eyes still fixed on the brunette, who was staring right back at her.

“What the heck are we doing?” Sea Hawk asks, phrasing it like an accusation.

“Giving her privacy,” Adora shoots back.

“That’s not what I mean. This is the blind side of the building! She could jump out the window and run off on the fire escape,”

“She won’t,”

“How do you know that?!” Sea Hawk whisper yells.

“I just trust her ok?”

“Doesn’t answer the question,” Sea Hawk says smugly, free hand on his chin, stroking his gaiter like a beard. “Oho, do you know this lady Adora?” he asks leaning over conspicuously.

“Shut up!” Adora jabs him in the chest, and glares.

“I’m ready. Which one of you has the handcuffs?” Catra asks loudly, standing in the doorframe of her bedroom. Adora turns around slowly, and gulps. She shakily takes out her pair and steps toward Catra.

“Of course it’s you,” Catra whispers, leaning toward her ear as Adora takes her wrists and fixes the cuffs to them. She very purposefully makes sure they were in front of Catra rather than at her back. She looks at Catra’s eyes, blinks heavily once then twice and laughs nervously.

The brunette smiles dangerously. ‘ _No you idiot! This is not a game,_ ’ Adora’s mind shouts. The group walks out of the halls and into the living room again. This place was much smaller than Adora remembered. They step out the door, Sea Hawk doing cursory checks of corners and the occasional window. She keeps her own hands on her rifle, the familiar weight calming her nerves.

"What the fuck did you do to my door?" Catra asks, incredulously, turning back to glare at them.

"Well it was locked," Adora mutters helplessly.

"You say that like it's weird," Catra glancing between Adora and Sea Hawk wildly.

"We had a no knock order," Adora adds, meekly, now wondering how they'd gotten one in just a few hours.

"You're paying for that," Catra growls, and books it for the street level.

“We’re good for exfil,” Adora says through the comms, hurrying after the brunette.

“Good, meet at the precinct,” Huntara’s voice crackles through her earpiece.

Adora squints slightly as they emerge into the light of the outside. She points at an unmarked SUV for Catra and the three move to it. Adora opens the door for Catra and closes it as soon as she can.

“You do know her!” Sea Hawk shouts as quietly as he can. Adora offers him a glare as an answer but he giggles nonchalantly. She opens the back and shoots him another look, before taking off most of her gear. The rifle first, which was unloaded in the building and then everything else. She keeps her pistol, at her waist.

“Maybe I do, but until we figure out what the fuck is going on, you don’t say a word,”

“Of course not! What do you take me for? A monster?”

Adora breathes in deeply before exhaling viscerally. “Give me three minutes with her please?”

“Of course of course! I’m rather curious what’s going on myself though, so you will be giving me details later,”

“Fine, whatever,” Adora mutters as she walks around to the driver’s door. She squeezes it until her hand goes white before pulling it open and swinging herself in.

“Hey~ Adora,” Catra says, in that god damned voice, through the divider of the front and back.

“Please take this seriously,” Adora twists in her seat to look back.

“I didn’t do anything wrong though. Best case I sue the department for damages, worst I go home tomorrow,”

“Worst case is Hordak puts you in the ground to keep you quiet,” Adora hisses.

“The police chief? Aren’t you cops supposed to be goody-two shoes?”

“Do not call me a cop! I’m a SWAT officer, nothing else,” Adora’s voice keeps it’s hostile-ness and she curses herself mentally. She was already messing this up.

“Are you kidding? A person like you? As a cop? It’s perfect!” Catra keels over laughing.

“ _Catra_ , _”_

“ _What_?”

“This is serious. And I would appreciate it a _lot_ if you would treat it like it is,” Adora glares at the brunette sitting behind her, for what might be the first time ever. Thankfully Catra sobers almost immediately.

“I don’t get it,” she mutters.

“You don’t have to right now. I promise we can try to figure this all out as soon as possible, just please don’t act like it’s some gigantic joke,”

“Fine,”

“Thank you. Could you tell me why you’re being brought into the department?”

“Aren’t I being arrested?”

“Not technically,”

“Then I have no idea. I haven’t done anything,” the way Catra says it worries Adora but she tries to shake it off.

“Fuck,” Adora mutters, putting a hand to her forehead.

Behind her Catra snickers. “I didn’t know you actually swore,”

“Like a sailor,” Adora fakes a violent grin into the mirror. She can see Catra frown behind her as she looks. “Is it really that bad?” Catra asks, voice small.

“About as bad as it gets in Etheria,”

"I kinda doubt that,"

"Trust me," 

“I didn’t do anything wrong though,” and Catra sounds genuinely confused, her eyes going a bit distant.

“I believe you… but if this isn’t because you did something, then…”

“Somebody invested a lot of resources to make this happen?”

“Yeah,”

On the side the car door clicks as Sea Hawk opens the door and sits. “Onward!” he shouts jovially, pumping a fist.

“Read the fucking room,” Catra mutters, looking out her window.

“Trying to alleviate stress,” Sea Hawk rubs the back of his neck.

“Thanks,” Adora mutters tensely. She turns the engine over and waits to pull out into the backed up traffic. They drive in silence until Sea Hawk turns on the radio, leaving it as quiet as possible. Her knuckles go white, gripping the wheel.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Adora gently helps her out of the SUV once they’re parked in the garage of the precinct. They leave their gear for some reason, which really stresses Catra out, but she doesn’t say anything. They make their way though the lower level slowly, which also stresses her out, but she still doesn’t say anything.

The elevator takes forever, so she starts bouncing her foot absentmindedly. When it finally dings open she breathes a sigh of relief before a taking a step forward into the actual precinct building. She stops almost immediately, looking at the two women staring at her.

“Please take Catra to Room 1. It should already be prepared,” the woman on the left says discretely. Her uniform was full of brass and ribbons. Whoever the other lady is grabs her gently by the arm and pulls her down the hall. Cart’s feet move on instinct, and she throws a helpless look back at Adora, who was watching her leave.

It doesn’t take long for them to come to an austere door. The lady takes her by the wrist and unlocks her handcuffs, before opening the door and ushering her in.

“Agent Patch will be with you momentarily. Please have a seat,” and closes the door again before Catra can respond.

She huffs loudly and grabs a chair.

Her heart starts pounding as she looks around interrogation room. It was sheer white cinderblocks, and a two way mirror. Not to mention the steel table in the center.

She hadn’t lied to Adora earlier. More like telling half truths to protect her. Why she was currently in a police station was beyond her. Even if she was technically “retired” she still had the protections of someone of her standing. And she definitely hadn't done anything recently to deserve this. Which definitely meant she wouldn’t be here long. The agent sits down but Catra doesn’t acknowledge her. They were reading her her Miranda Rights, but Catra wasn't really listening, she was staring at the two way mirror. Besides, she had them more or less memorized.

"Okay. Let's see here. CSI did a full sweep of your apartment. They didn't find anything of outstanding concern, however, you are being kept around for some questioning,"

“Can I ask why?"

“Of course! And it’s a precaution we take in situations like this. Just because there's nothing in the apartment doesn't mean you don't belong here for some reason or another. Full name please,"

"Uh… Catra A. Weaver,” she can’t help the stutter in her voice.

"Okay, its nice to meet you Catra. I'm Agent Patch. Let's start off easy... Have you been or are you currently involved in any criminal activities?"

Catra stares at the two way mirror "No,"

The detective's face flashes with something that Catra can't make out.

"You don't have to lie Catra,"

"I'm not lying,"

The Agent pauses, staring at her. She was annoyed. Which meant she knew something. ' _Shit_ '

"Have you ever killed someone?”

"No?"

"I'm gonna need something a little more concrete now Catra,"

“No,”

“Good. Do you have a next of kin who could pick you up after this?"

"No," Catra's looking at the table now. The Agent's eyes light up slightly, or it could just be the fluorescent bulbs.

"Hm. Any particular reason why?"

"Everyone is either dead or didn't care enough to keep me. Why is that relevant?"

“Just is. We can talk about that later,”

"So why did you ask?" Catra was really trying to be polite. These people seemed dangerous. But her annoyance was obvious.

"Are you connected in any way to Prime?" Catra's blood goes cold as the agent talks.

"Who?" Catra's voice quivers dangerously as she talks. Her hands fidget in her lap.

“You don't have to lie Catra,"

"I'm not," Catra pushes back, this lady was really annoying. It was best for everyone if the cops left this alone.

"Drug Lord. Real powerful. The DEA has been trackin' him for a while. He supplies most dealers around here, and the ones he don't usually wind up dead in a river somewhere,"

"Never even heard of him," If the feds were starting to close in on him that was good. Or maybe really _really_ bad.

"Course not. Now tell me. How are you still alive Catra?"

"Uhh, The normal way, I guess?"

"Well, you had two warrants for arrest. Both were smaller for this area, don't get me wrong. Of course- ya got lucky. Statute of Limitations passed on those mmmm, a while ago. Somehow,"

"What?" Catra's voice betrays her, and the detective grins, in an oddly friendly way.

"Oh yeah. Nothing to worry about on your end. You can walk outta here whenever ya want. You aren't under arrest. But if these are legit, and we both know they are, you'll want to stay. Now it looks like the first iiiisssss. Intent to Distribute a Schedule I substance. Hmm. Second was Intent to Distribute a Schedule II. And look at that! You got an OWI a while ago too. Ooh, Ms. Weaver, I hope you've kicked that habit. It's a dangerous one to have, 'specially for a drug dealer. Look, it don't matter to us that you have a record kid, but it probably matters to you. My point is you're either connected to Prime or someone powerful enough to protect you from him. Neither are real good when it comes to livin' past 40,"

Catra stares at the Agent, before glancing at the voice recorder in front of them. If she was lying Catra could sue, and get out of any sentencing. There really wasn't much to lose here "I may have dealt for him in the past. But that was a long time ago,"

"Mhm... hmph, I can't say that matters _terribly_ much, unless you wanna stop looking over your shoulder all the time. From what I understand, Prime ain't one to forget his work associates,"

Catra's doesn’t bother answering. Either the feds had her pegged or the Department did. Either was pretty bad for long term plans she had been working on over the past month.

"Good, good. Then it seems we could have an agreement on the table,"

"Like what?"

"We want Prime gone. You wanna stay alive."

"I still don't understand,"

"That's alright, its good to get your delusions outta the way now. I say you're smart enough to figure this out,"

Catra scowls at her.

"Ok, so maybe a bit more time to let go of that one eh? Listen all you gotta do is promise to help us with our investigation. We'll handle the paperwork for the feds. Then you're put into protective custody,"

"I haven't done anything wrong,"

"Nuh-no. _Protective_. You're given protection from everyone. Not to mention, you're compensated nicely for putting yourself in danger's way.

“That doesn’t sound like it would be anything bad,” Catra says it like a statement, staring down the lady in front of her.

But Catra. I need you to understand what you'll be agreeing to ok? Prime is a very powerful man. He gets what he wants, when he wants, how he wants, and where he wants. We don't think he'll suspect you, but that's still a gamble for everyone involved,"

"And if I think you're taking advantage of my current situation?"

The Agent laughs. "Of course we're taking advantage of you! You honestly think you're here by chance? But the way I see it Catra? This is a very good deal for someone like you. So what if we're taking advantage of you? You're taking advantage of us. You don't have any other way out kid. This is your best shot at life,"

Catra scowls, looking again at the two way mirror.

"Listen. Like I said, you can leave whenever. You aren't being detained in anyway anymore. This is completely up to you," Agent Patch was being oddly candid, but Catra liked that about her.

Money would be helpful. Not to mention... yeah best not to think about that “Two conditions,” she tries to cut the Detective with her tone. Sharp enough to puncture an empire class battleship level scathing hopefully. Unfortunately, Patch doesn't bat an eye.

"And that is?" The agent was getting impatient by the sounds of it.

"You wipe my record clean,"

"Of course! That won't be a problem,"

“And I take this voice recorder with me,”

The agent laughs loudly and pushes it towards her. “Figured as much,”

"Then fine. I'll do it,"

"Great! Good to have you aboard kid, it's gonna be wonderful. We'll end the war on drugs all by ourselves eh?" The detective's severity was gone.

Catra blinks and Patch is at the door. Dubiously, she stands and walks over.

"And don't call me kid," she growls.

The detective smiles lightly and nods, opening the door, and they step out.

' _Goddammit_ '

Adora was staring at her, standing with the woman from before who dressed like a general.

"Ah, Ms. Weaver. A pleasure to meet our newest. You've already met Agent Patch. And I hear you're personally acquainted with Adora here,"

Catra's face burned, and she could see Adora's eyes shoot to the ground, probably to cover a blush. The way she had said that was weird. Accusatory, but gentle. Maybe like a parent scolding their child.

"Well ma'am I don't see how that's directly um, pertinent to what's going on... right now. With the case that is. Catra's I mean," Adora was rambling. Something she did a lot if Catra's experience meant anything.

"Oh it is perfectly relevant Adora. Hordak wants this done off the books, he is running for mayor next year after all..."

"Are you done ma'am?" Adora asks, still confused.

"It means you will be guarding Ms. Weaver,” the other woman was pinching the bridge of her nose.

Catra feels a jolt of surprise as Adora looks wildly at who was clearly her commanding officer.

"Oh... oh! Uh. Really ma'am?"

Catra looks at her in annoyance. She could at least pretend to be enthusiastic. She was standing right there. Catra's mind, on the other hand, was racing.

"Yes Adora. That being said this will be treated as a drug trafficking case in regards to your... friend. If the press digs into it, she's officially under constant supervision pending court appearance. Given your connections you will be suspended until further notice, pending investigation,"

"Right ma'am. I'm just having some trouble with this whole thing though. I mean this is a little sketchy and also a conflict of interest, for most of the people involved and-"

"Well then Grayskull. Perhaps you should choose your companions a little more carefully. I'm not happy about this either, but Hordak has personally demanded it,"

"Uh. Yes ma'am," Adora is staring at her feet

"This is going to be done with the fewest amount of people possible. As of now that means us, the rest of Team 13, Hordak, and Detective Patch. That list is not subject to change. You will go everywhere together and the people you socialize with will not suspect a thing,"

"Yes ma'am,"

"Good, when we have a plan for moving forward we'll call you. Expect it tomorrow morning,"

"Yes ma'am,"

“As per Hordak’s orders, I’m supposed to read this to you,” Angella mutters. “You will temporarily be allowed to be in possession of your vest, department ammunition, and your M4 carbine while on your leave of absence. If your equipment becomes unusable, suitable replacements will be deliveredIf anything is stolen you will be held financially responsible,” Angella looks up from the piece of paper. “Is it still in the car from earlier?”

“Yeah,” Adora mutters, visibly stewing in her own anger.

“YOu’ll have to move it into a personal car. You two will be leaving in separate vehicles before rendezvousing at your apartment Adora. We’ve arranged for an Uber for Catra. Please be as discrete as possible when you do leave here. And once again, this is at the request of Hordak,”

“Ok,” Adora mutters and Catra doesn’t bother trying to object. This police chief seemed to be an absolute law around here.

"Good, now then, on your way,"

Adora nods, head barely moving. The Captain walks off, leaving the two alone.

Catra grins evilly and pushes herself against Adora's arm. Confidence was key in these situations. Hopefully Adora wouldn't notice the pounding of her heart.

"So, you have to be with me _everywhere_ I go, huh?" Catra uses the voice that she knows Adora can barely handle.

Satisfaction washes over her as Adora visibly gulps, staring back. “That’s probably an exaggeration,” Adora stammers.

“You’re no fun,” Catra mumbles leaning against the blonde.

/-/-/--/-//-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/--/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the Agent's accent, I have no idea what it's actually supposed to be or when it's supposed to be what it is... but at this point I'm in to deep to change it.


	2. Intro and Rondo Capriccioso (Fabrizio von Arx)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dubious consent I guess? I tried to write it that they're both making advances simultaneously and as the author I know they're both interested/consenting.  
> That being said they are drunk at the end of the chapter which means they can't technically give consent. Always remember, people under the influence can't give consent, and that this just a story. We know the circumstances, but that isn't always the case in real life.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-//-/-/-/-/

The drive to her apartment is nerve-wracking. She checks her rearview mirror constantly. She’d even chambered a bullet in her pistol before leaving the elevator for the parking garage. And now she was only driving with one hand, the other curled around the polymer grip of her sidearm.

Adora breathes a sigh of relief when she pulls into the parking lot without a tailing car. She turns the key off in her car and grabs the duffel bag from the passenger seat. She shoves open the car door and gets out, swinging the bag over her shoulder. The stairs are kind of a pain as it bangs against the back of her thighs, but it’s only a flight. Plus there was a pause whenever she glanced backward.

The door is unlocked, which hopefully makes sense.

“Catra?” she calls. The lights were on.

“Yeah?” Catra’s voice comes from the couch, and Adora walks over. The brunette was looking at her phone, scrolling and tapping every now and then.

“Are you doing ok?” Adora sets down her bag carefully and sits down next to Catra.

“”Yeah,” Catra mutters, leaning over to rest on Adora’s shoulder. Instantly her heart rate spikes as she tries not to freak out. It’s not like they hadn’t done domestic stuff like this before. But it was way less common than their usual arrangement. “Just really confused is all,”

“Yeah,” Adora agrees, still trying to avoid movement at all costs.

“Did you figure anything else out?” Catra mutters, putting her phone down and snuggling in a bit closer to Adora’s neck.

“Not really. How about you,” Adora mumbles, breathing slightly heavier.

“They want me to be an informant,” Catra flips herself over, sitting in Adora’s lap, chin resting on her collarbone

“Where?”

“Prime,” Catra looks up at her, obviously worried. Adora groans.

‘Fuck. Oh fucking fuck.’ This was worse than she thought. Adora’s mind goes racing, thinking about what could possibly be going on. She’s vaguely aware of Catra still looking at her, but she doesn’t pay attention to it, as her brain starts doing circles on itself. Catra eventually looks away and leans back into her spot.

“Well shit,” Adora mutters.

“Yeah,” Catra mumbles, rubbing her cheek against Adora’s collarbone softly. They both go silent, mulling over the predicament in their heads. After awhile, Catra shifts around again.

“Do you have any alcohol?” Catra murmurs in Adora’s ear, and the blonde snaps back to reality.

“Yeah. It’s not a full bar or anything. But we should have the main liquors, and maybe a couple different beers? Glimmer usually drinks them so I’m not really sure about brand,”

“You wanna get drunk?” Catra’s voice is playful as she nuzzles along Adora’s jaw.

As much as she wants to say yes Adora holds herself back. Constant vigilance was probably the best doctrine right now. Which meant absolutely nothing fun until this whole shit-show was over. What this shit-show was however was something she wasn’t too confident about.

“It’ll be fun,” Catra whispers.

“I really shou-“

“It’s the first night Adora. I doubt I’ll actually need any protection until I actually start talking to the guy,” Catra starts getting up. “C’mon I used to be a bartender. I’ll make whatever you want. Or maybe I’ll just surprise you,”

“Even if I know what I want?”

Catra smirks deviously. “Especially then,” she replies, and Adora groans.

“Why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure I’ve only seen you order like two kinds of mixers in the entire amount of time we’ve spent together at bars,”

“That’s because they’re good,” Adora moans, and walks to the kitchen counter, where Catra had already started setting out bottles of alcohol.

“Oh please. You’re just basic. I won’t make stuff that’s too fancy. I just want you to ‘broaden you your horizons’ a little,” Catra jazzes her hands a little bit and laughs, before turning around and grabbing more. She makes two trips before she can’t quite reach any more.

“Liar,” she turns around points a finger at Adora.

“What?”

“This place has more stuff than all my apartments put together!”

“Well-“

“Shut up and help me,” Catra glowers and Adora grins weakly, before standing in front of Catra expectantly. The brunette for her part doesn’t move away, instead turning around and pointing at the last two bottles in the cabinet. “Those ones,” she says like it isn’t obvious. Adora gulps and reaches up trying to avoid leaning into Catra. She fails of course, and she curses mentally as she feels her core gradually pushing Catra into the counter.

She breathes a sigh of relief as her fingers curl around the bottlenecks and she leans back. Catra turns back around and flashes a flushed grin, before grabbing the liquors from Adora’s hands. “Thanks,” Catra says, in that voice she does sometimes. Adora can feel her cheeks flash with heat.

“To clarify, I am not judging, yet. But how much alcohol do you drink?” Catra asks, eyes narrowing even as she undoes a bottle cap.

“It’s not just me! Bow and Glimmer drink plenty too!”

“Please tell me those aren’t the names of your two dogs that you drink with,” Catra deadpans.

“They’re my roommates thank you very much. And that doesn’t even make sense,” Adora mutters.

“You have roommates?!” Catra freezes, staring at her with a scary intensity.

“Yeah?”

“How is this the first time you’ve told me that?”

“It is?” Adora chuckles nervously.

“Yup. In two whole months actually,” Catra frowns before undoing the cap of the tequila bottle.

“That’s weird,” Adora puts on her best apologetic smile before looking away.

Catra shakes her head and mumbles something Adora can’t quite catch. “What?”

“I said! Princess, what have you all had before, cocktails wise,” Catra has all the bottles open, with a couple glasses ready.

“So uh, please don’t judge me ok?”

“Depends,” Catra crosses her arms.

“So like. If I say, for instance, that I’ve only had old fashioneds and a couple margaritas would that be a judgmental situation… or?”

“Oh Adora. Please, for the love of god, tell me that isn’t true,”

Adora smiles weakly at the brunette.

“Fuck Adora. Really? How do you drink your alcohol?”

“Is it bad if I say straight?”

“YES!” Catra yells. The brunette was glowering, clenching a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of sour mix in her hands. “I am getting rid of these. And you are trying something new,”

“Ok,” Adora says weakly.

Catra leaves the two bottles by the door and opens the fridge. She stacks juices and fruits on the counter. “You said this wasn’t a full bar,” almost seriously.

“Well Bow kinda likes to mess around with stuff, and find new things to make for him and Glimmer,”

“Hmph,” Catra pours a bit of a few different juices into their glasses and gives it a careful swirl before adding a bit of rum to the still moving mixtures. She slides one over to Adora and grabs her own.

“What’s this?” Adora picks it up and sniffs it a bit.

“It’s called a painkiller,”

Adora snorts and has to hold back some laughter.

“Whatever, just drink it already,” Catra sips her own and watches as Adora downs the orangish mix. It was definitely good… really good. She sets down her glass a little disappointed there wasn’t anymore, and looks at Catra.

“So?”

“I liked it,”

“Duh,” Catra scoffs but she’s still actually grinning a bit. The brunette makes a different one, still going pretty light on the actual alcohol. Adora takes it and drinks, beginning to understand the below average portion of actual liquor.

She can’t stop smiling stupidly after the fourth or fifth, and Catra can’t stop laughing at her. She finds herself standing _right_ next tot the brunette after the sixth or seventh, leaning up against her somewhat, watching as Catra’s hands work magic.

Adora downs the newest one, and gives Catra a look “I’d like real adult drink now please. In a real adult cup,”

Catra bursts out laughing and reaches for a bunch of random bottles, and even some beer, pouring each one in almost haphazardly before pushing the drink to Adora.

“What is?” Adora picks it up and sniffs. She hadn’t seen anything enter this cup that wasn’t alcohol.

“Hangman’s Blood. Or- kind of. You guys were missing like two things, but I also replaced stuff with other stuff that was pretty close. It’s good though! Like I promise it’s like an actual real thing,” Catra starts making her own, suddenly very invested in the glass she’s using. Adora shrugs and takes a drink. It certainly wasn’t bad, but Adora takes another drink to make sure, her mouth going almost dry. Catra starts drinking hers, and she wanders over to Adora’s side of the counter. “Adult enough for you?” she asks, sipping at hers through a straw, with a very particular look in her eyes.

“Perfectly,” Adora hums, taking another sip, and smiles at Catra. They sip absentmindedly at their drinks, meandering closer and closer to each other.

“So like 1-10 right? How fucked are we. If you’re my _police_ bodyguard while I _work_ for Prime?” Catra asks, lips still around her straw, laughing slightly.

“Like… a solid 11,” Adora replies, thinking about it for a second.

“That’s pretty fucked,” Catra bounces her eyebrows and laughs softly.

“Like, a really solid amount of fucked,” Adora giggles loudly. “Hey, I uh- would like to try your drink,” Adora mumbles, setting down her own glass.

“This one?” Catra holds up her’s and points at it. Adora just nods a couple times. “Why? Is the same one you have,”

“Gotta make sure, you didn’t make yours all ‘fancy’,” (and she does the air quotes).

Catra laughs, and hoists herself up on the kitchen counter. “Come here,” she whispers, and Adora takes a couple steps.

“Closer,” Catra sing songs in a whisper. Another few steps. “Closer please,”

Catra wraps her legs around Adora’s waist loosely, and gently pulls her in the last couple inches. Slowly she takes a long drag of her drink and takes Adora’s face in her hands. Even now she was leaving plenty of time for Adora to back away or say something.

Adora was actually leaning in though, so Catra leans in too.

Catra’s drink was definitely better hers Adora decides, lips working against Catra’s. The brunette was already sliding her hands underneath Adora’s shirt, tracing the lines of her abs and the scar she has. Adora shudders involuntarily as Catra’s nails graze her scar tissue. She can feel Catra tremble a little with silent laughter, and she lets her lips drift away from Catra’s mouth, trailing down her jaw and neck. Almost instantly the brunette was arched into her, and Adora suppresses a smile, drawing her teeth over Catra’s collarbone gently, and sucking softly.

“Bed,” Catra mumbles.

Adora hums as she hooks her arms underneath Catra’s thighs and walks them to her room, only stumbling a couple times. She gently climbs onto the bed on all fours, Catra clinging onto her as she does. Adora peels off Catra's shirt, and lets her lips trail down from Catra's collarbone, wandering with a mind of their own...

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	3. won't someone come along and teach me how to keep it alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bow has to be the tired dad friend for a sec.  
> 

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Adora wakes up to her phone ringing, and groans, not even opening her eyes.

Grabbing wildly, her fingers curl around the noisemaker. Blinking the sleep from her eyes she glares at her screen.

**Chief**

' _Shit_ '

She picks up the call, and holds the phone to her ear, cursing the sun for being so bright.

"Good morning, or rather afternoon now, Officer Grayskull. I'm so very glad you decided to finally pick up. As they say third time is the charm," Angella was pissed, and Adora's head falls back onto her pillow. Her eyes dart around her bare ceiling trying to think.

"I'm sorry ma'am. I can come in right now if you need me to,"

"No point. The day is practically over,"

"Yes ma'am,"

"Be here tomorrow morning 7 sharp,"

"Of course ma'ammh," Adora yells a curse in her mind. Catra's knee was pushing up against her in a gentle rhythm.

Angella sighs into the phone. "Until tomorrow Officer,"

Adora hangs up as quickly as possible, hands sliding to Catra's hips. She was stunning in the early morning light.

"Hey Adora," the woman on top of her presses a kiss onto her collarbone, hands roaming.

"Catra we really shouldn't," as much as Adora _wanted_ to, it probably wouldn't be smart.

"Not a morning sex person?" Catra's head pushes against her chin gently, but her hands stop, coming back up to the sides of them both.

"No, I just have things to do," Adora

"Hmph, like what?"

"Stuff,"

"And why can't I be Stuff?"

“We’ve gotta seize the day! Plus my roommates usually cook me breakfast on my days off,"

"That is obnoxiously cute,"

"Thank you,"

"It wasn't a compliment,"

"I know," Adora kisses her softly, starting to sit up. Catra's arms wrap around her, legs coming to rest on the sides of her hips. Adora shivers slightly, and desperately tries to forget that they're both naked right now. And ignore the way Catra feels, clutching up against her.

"I don't want to get up though," Catra's jaw moves against her shoulder, as she whispers into Adora's ear, breath warm.

"Well you have to get dressed at least." Adora swings her legs over the edge of the bed, trying to power past any thoughts that were starting to play at the edge of her mind. Catra whines as she stands. "Which means you have to let go," she continues gently.

"Mm- bet," Catra doesn't move.

Adora walks them to her dresser. She gently pulls Catra arms from around her shoulders, and sets her down as softly as possible. Catra yawns stiffly and opens the drawers, drowsily going through their contents, before slipping into a hoodie and underwear, and handing Adora shorts and a different hoodie. The blonde grins at her like an idiot. She puts on the clothes hurriedly and almost grabs Catra’s hand to walk off, when the brunette clambers back up to where she was. It was kind of adorable when she was like this. Adora hooks her arms into their usual spot. Adora walks them down the hall toward the kitchen. She can already smell something delicious, and homey emanating from just beyond her sight.

"Good morning!" Bow's cheery call was as chipper as usual.

"Morning," Surprisingly Catra mutters a greeting, still buried in her chest.

"Oh! I didn't know you were going to join us for brunch," Bow looks at Adora who looks back guiltily.

"Neither did I Crop Top. Do you guys have coffee?"

"Sure. Do you want sugar or cream?"

"Neither thanks," Catra was being oddly polite.

Adora smiles gratefully at her roommate who grins back. She pulls out a chair and sits down in an awkward position, still holding Catra close.

She glances at the clock. _12:17_. What was Angella playing at? There was plenty of time left in the day. Bow pours out two mugs of coffee and sets them down on the table. One obviously had creamer in it. Adora picks up that one and blows on it. Catra moves slightly, the scent of coffee appropriate motivation apparently.

Adora sips at her drink and Bow slides down into the chair across from her.

They share an awkward glance, staring at each other then down to Catra and back and forth. Bow shrugs slightly, pulling his own cup of coffee to his lips and settling in to read a letter, probably from his dads.

Catra sits up straight and stretches her arms nose almost touching Adora's. "God I hate mornings," she mutters, and Adora laughs. The two disentangle so Catra can slide into her own chair, where she begins nursing her coffee. “You have family Crop Top?” she asks, looking over at him expectantly.

Bow looks at Catra, eyes wide. "Oh! Uhh, yeah. Two dads, and twelve siblings,”

“Jesus. They must like kids,” Catra mutters, mostly to herself.

“Yeah! They’ take us with them to job sites and cool places all the time,”

“Oh yeah,” Catra’s faking interest, even if Bow can’t tell.

“They're on the banks of the Euphrates right now, with my brothers and sisters,"

“Cool. So what do you do?”

“I’m on the uh- SWAT team with Adora,”

"Hmph how'd you wind up doing that with an awesome career path like archaeology?”

Bow's mouth parts but he doesn't talk for a moment. He lands on "It's complicated,"

Catra makes a face that almost seems like a mix of vague interest and _'I'll drink to that_ ' and follows it up by quaffing mouthfuls of coffee. "So is SWAT like a weekend job then?”

"Kind of. Etheria is just barely small enough we aren't a 24/7 team, we go in shifts. The department is willing to put up with my schedule as long as I go full time once I'm done with my doctorate,"

“Doctorate?!” Catra looks him up and down once before sniffing loudly and taking another drink of coffee.

“Archaeology,” Bow smiles weakly.

"Wild,” Catra mutters, unenthused. “So why the special treatment?"

"Sniper's are in high demand these days,"

"Oh,"

No one speaks for a few minutes, and Adora actually enjoys the silence, so does Catra by the looks of it.

"You ever kill anyone?" Catra apparently was _not_ enjoying the silence.

"What?!" Bow's tone was actually kind of hilariously scandalized, even if it wasn't exactly a laughing matter.

"Yeah. You're a sniper right? So you ever kill anyone?"

"I actually prefer marksman, and um, no I haven't killed anyone,"

"Alright then marksman. How 'bout you Adora?"

Adora chokes on her coffee before she can spit out ”Definitely not! Yesterday was my first mission," It was Adora's turn to freak out. Her face was probably cherry red but she hopes her voice kept even enough. She glares across at Bow as he looks at her funny. He glares back.

"Really? So I was your _first_?" Catra either hadn’t noticed or really wanted to tease her that badly.

“Mhmm. This isn’t really where I saw my life right now, I just kind of ended up doing this,” Adora's heart rate is still sky high. She would not give her the satisfaction. She was actually kind of proud of herself, that she hadn't made a move yet. It was taking all of her concentration at this point though. She drinks her coffee to keep her hands busy.

"What an odd happenstance," Catra is staring at her, Adora can feel it. She looks up for a moment and smiles innocently. Catra's eyes dart back down to her coffee.

"So where's Glimmer?" Adora turns back to Bow, desperate to change subject.

"Work. Micah had something he needed help with,"

"Do you know what time she's coming back?"

"She said 3, but you know how it goes,"

“So we're out of here by 2:30 Catra,"

"Don't want Sparkles to know I was here dear?"

Adora blushes at the endearment.

"That might be difficult," Bow is flustered, and staring at the table.

Ok, just gonna ignore that for now, worry about it later... or maybe never. Hope to whatever gods existed that Glimmer wouldn't bring it up. Knowing the gods though, she definitely would.

"Kind of? You two just seem like you won’t really meld immediately. So it might be better to bring her a peace offering and not be here when she comes home,” Adora does her best to mask her own uncertainties. If Bow’s reaction meant anything, they were probably done for.

“That’s a pretty big assumption,” Catra was actually defensive about this. Did she care about what Glimmer thought?

"I'm not blaming you! I'm just saying, we could ease our way into it y’know," Adora was feeling oddly nervous about the whole thing. A lingering sensation that this was going to crash and burn, and probably start a wildfire that incinerated half the continent. She nibbles at some of Bow's toast.

"I think Adora is just trying to make sure that we start off on the right foot, if this is going to be a regular thing,” Bow's tone was careful, like he was picking through a minefield. Each step an agonizing life or death decision. A little over the top maybe, Adora thinks, but probably worth it.

She glances at Catra as Bow talks, watching her eyes flash with something. Was that worry? Fear? The realization that all her coffee was gone? Panic? Regret? Existential Dread?

Adora wasn't the best at reading people but she could get by. Catra on the other hand was a wall, a blank slate, the feeling you get in the middle of the night when you can't sleep. When the world isn't moving and you are, but you know you shouldn't be. The invisibility, and solitude of being so desperately isolated from everyone, even though your roommates are twenty feet away.

Adora makes a mental note to nap later, or chug a gallon of coffee.

“Why wouldn’t we though” Catra was confused for once.

Bow glances between the two of them. Then groans. Then holds his head in his hands.

"Ok. Adora I know you don't want to hear this. But I'm going to be the responsible adult for a minute, and we're gonna have The Talk,"

"Or we could just... not?" Adora really did not want to do this.

"Nope,"

"Shit,"

Catra looks over at her worried, and Adora smiles back. This probably wouldn't be too bad, right?

"Catra,"

"Uh yeah?"

"I'm aware you're dating my friend Adora,"

"Um. Yeah?" Catra looks over at her, looking for help. Unfortunately, Adora had none to give. Really, she didn't even know what to think of her current situation.

"How long has that been happening?"

Catra's eyes flash with panic and Adora glares at Bow. "A couple days,"

So Catra wasn't the best at thinking on her feet, ' _Make a note of that_ '

"What are your intentions with her?"

"Well that's kind of a loaded question,"

"Why are you here?"

"I was invited-"

"No, I mean why are you here, in my dining room, right now. You could have left this morning or last night. Why are you so close to Adora and we didn't even know you existed until yesterday,"

"I guess I just didn't feel like waking u-" Catra tries to joke.

"How long do you see this lasting? Why? How does she make you feel? What's the point of all this?"

"Bow don't you think that this is a little excessive?" Adora knew the answers to all those questions, even if he didn’t. Afterwards they'd probably go back to seeing each other once a week, hopefully twice. This didn't go deeper than that for Catra though. She feels something in her chest, but sips at her coffee. Stupid feeling was not going away. Who evens needs a chest right? Useless except for making you feel nervous.

Catra was still silent.

"I don't expect you to answer all of my questions, ok? That would be... unreasonable. But if you're using her for selfish reasons. If this is all just a game to you. Leave right now, and never come back. Adora doesn't deserve that,"

"Bow! Seriously I'm fine-"

"I do not care Adora. This was the grown up talk remember? I'm done now. Never has to happen again. Glimmer may have a few things to say though,"

Catra is still silent.

"Could I get some more coffee please?" Catra speaks, hands clenched in her lap.

"Of course!" Bow's usual chipper self was back again. Adora slides a bit closer, and puts a hand in Catra's fist.

"It's gonna be okay. Alright?"

Catra nods slightly.

Bow comes back with Catra's coffee and the three sit there for what feels like an eternity. Adora glances at the clock. _12:23_. Who even made time? What's the point of it? Goes really quick when it's supposed to go slow and really slow when the world is inflicting pain, because that's what I deserve I guess?

"So what are we gonna do today?" Catra's voice startles her.

"Well I'm going to the gym, maybe dinner and a movie tonight?"

"That would be nice. I should probably stop in at the shop too. Make sure Scorpia is doing okay alone," Catra's voice is small and she picks up her coffee to sip at it absentmindedly.

"Ok,"

' _Nice... hopefully anyway_ ’

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	4. we should just kiss, like real people do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is a little confused about the nature of Catra and Adora's relationship. And I do mean everyone.

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All cards on the table. Catra was freaking out.

She was a _police_ informant. She had basically signed her own death certificate yesterday.

Her omnipresent headache was sure as hell not helping and for some god damned reason her stomach was full of butterflies. Life was hell presently.

The morning had been nice at least. Adora had held her as the sun rose and it was the most at peace Catra had felt in years. Sleeping with her head tucked under Adora's chin, cheek resting against her chest, away from her stupid apartments and business.

Right now though, Crop Top was lecturing her on her intentions with Adora. And asking really hard questions.

_How long was this going to last? Until the investigation was over, right? Then Adora would probably forget about her. A twinge in her chest. Coffee please. Don't need any emotions today thank you._

_Why am I here? Am I selfish?_

_Bad news Crop Top. It was definitely selfishness that brought me here. Probably. But if it was really about the investigation, hmm..._

_Was it all a game? High stakes charades where the prize is my life? Maybe. Maybe not._

Her hands clench in her lap and she suddenly has the urge to smoke. The coffee was gone. If Crop Top had one redeeming feature, it was that he made incredible coffee.

"Could I have some more coffee, please?" The words fall out of her. She really did need something to take the edge off right now.

"Of course!" Bow gets up and leaves.

Catra can see Adora's hand inching closer before it settles on top her fists.

"Hey it's gonna be okay. Alright?"

Catra nods slightly, and her arm begins to tingle. Bow comes back with Catra's coffee and the three sit for what feels like an eternity.

"So what are we gonna do today?" Catra couldn't bear the silence anymore.

"Well I'm going to the gym, maybe dinner and a movie tonight too?"

"That would be nice. I should probably stop in at the shop. Make sure Scorpia is doing okay alone,"

"Ok," Adora looks at her with a grin.

There was that damn flutter in her chest. She drinks her coffee.

' _Really not in the mood for this right now_ ' That being said, she wasn't in the mood for anything. Except maybe Adora. In the past 24 hours her life had managed to become even more fucked up, which should have been impossible.

The only remedy she had found was this blonde himbo.

The other two stay quiet, thank god. She had officially learned her lesson. No talking meant no emotions to worry about.

Crop Top had annoyingly touched some nerves. And his big speech hadn't even been that great. Honestly, so what if Catra wanted to spend more time with Adora? Was it really that bad to want to be with her?

' _Nooooooope. Not having this conversation_ ' she drinks, feeling her hands start to quiver with nervous energy. Bow gets up awkwardly.

"I'll see you guys later?" he was rightfully curious. Catra had dropped out of the sky yesterday.

"Yeah," Adora replies. That's something. Coming back here later... Glimmer could be around, which would be less than ideal. Crop Top was leaving, walking out the door. So he was wearing a crop top? Doing who knows what, in a crop top?

Adora takes her hand out of nowhere and pulls her up. "Time to get ready for the day,"

Catra groans in response. Adora leads her to the bedroom, where she opens a drawer and takes out some clothes.

"Sorry, I know they're probably not your style. But it's all I have for you," Adora smiles at her apologetically.

' _You know we could just go to my apartment, right? '_ But Catra doesn't say that out loud. The outfit on the bed involved a crop top. Did Adora want her to wear this? Or was she just trying to be nice?

' _Am I actually gonna do it_?'

Catra was proud of her figure, not that she'd ever say that aloud, and if Adora was going to be showing off muscle everyday, torturing every person in a five mile radius, then Catra was going to get revenge somehow.

' _But a crop top? Really?_ ' The butterflies in her stomach insist and she sighs.

She peels off Adora's sweatshirt and slides the outfit on, watching Adora as she does. Her biceps flex perfectly, and her legs were totally on display. The way her back flexes while clipping her holster together. Wait, holster?

Holy shit, Adora is taking a pistol to the gym.

"Hey 007? Don't you think that's a bit much?" Catra says with a smirk, walking over to Adora, and draping herself over the blonde's incredibly toned back.

Adora looks back at her confused, before her eyes light up. "Oh! Well, it's uhh..." Catra's hands slide under Adora's shirt and she starts tracing abs with her fingers. "-Actually a Glock, not a Walther. Plus it's better to be on the safe side with stuff like this y'know? Never quite sure when something will happen so it pays to be prepared,"

Catra's mind snaps back to reality and she begins to feel light headed.

"Right," Because Catra had a target on her back now. And Prime wouldn't hesitate to kill her wherever she was.

So Adora was carrying a gun. A loaded gun. That could _definitely_ kill people. Just in case. Right. Catra slides off of Adora. If someone tried to kill her, that meant Adora would save her. Right?

If she's being honest, the thought makes her sick.

"I wouldn't worry about it, ok? Like you said, it’s only the second day. I just want to be prepared for absolutely everything,”

Adora pulls on a sleeveless hoodie, which should be illegal if Catra has a say in the matter. The dread in her gut was gone mostly, as she stares. It dies when she catches Adora staring back at her.

"Like what you see?" Catra's tone is teasing.

"You're stunning," Adora is looking her in the eyes now.

' _Fuck! Why did you have to say something like that?_ ' Catra struggles to push it down but something like happiness bubbles in her chest.

"Oh yeah?" _'We're going back to teasing. That's comfortable. Just please, no more curveballs today.'_ Adora flustered was beautiful, but Adora like this was _hot._

Adora steps closer to her, becoming more and more close. Desperately so. "Yeah,"

Catra reaches out, because, really truly, she'd had enough of the whole emotion thing. Touching was something she was good at, so it was touching she was gonna do.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Catra does her best to not sound desperate, dropping her voice low. It was impossible to describe how Adora made her feel. Kind of a mix, of a million different things. Sitting by a campfire in fall. Touching electric fencing. Sun tanning at the end of July. Drinking water after brushing your teeth.

Adora picks her up with ease, interrupting Catra's thoughts, with her forearms resting under Catra's thighs. Catra could already feel herself getting hot.

She kisses Adora with a fervor, driving them closer together. Adora is walking somewhere.

She's pushed up against a wall, and can barely hold back a moan.

Adora kisses along her jaw. Catra's hands are on the blonde's shoulders, feeling them flex against gravity.

All at once it comes screeching to a stop. Adora lets her down softly.

' _What the fuck_ ' Catra's pissed.

Adora looks at her, embarrassed, before hurrying out the door. ' _What the hell was that?_ '

Had she misread things? One second Adora was _into_ her, then not at all. It didn't make sense.

_'Because she doesn't feel the same as you'_

_'Shut the fuck up me. No one asked you'_

Catra shakes herself, then pulls on Adora's sweatshirt again before walking out of the bedroom. Adora was sitting on a recliner, lost in thought.

"You ready to go?" Try to keep things normal for now? Was that the right move? Forget that had ever happened.

Catra really wanted to be doing something active, but definitely not at the gym. It would have to do though. Movement stopped her from thinking too hard.

"Yup," Adora doesn't look at her, but pops the p a little, and stands up. Catra smiles awkwardly at her and walks out the front door, followed closely by Adora.

"How far is it to the gym?"

"Depends. If you want to walk it's five minutes and if you want to drive it's four,” Adora really wasn't the best at deadpan but Catra laughs anyway.

"Walking it is," Catra grabs Adora's hand, making certain to take the left one and not the right. Down the elevator, and out the front door.

There weren't a ton of people on the street, but it's enough for Catra's nerves to kick in. The noise was a lot to take sometimes.

Adora leads them through the crowds with a certainty. She must do this often. It definitely helped that most people moved for her though. Catra smiles inwardly, just watching the blonde walk.

She glances over her shoulder slightly, as nonchalant as possible, and takes note of who's behind her. It was a habit she had picked up ages ago, in a rather similar set of circumstances. She shudders involuntarily.

They stop at a crosswalk and wait for the light. Catra can feel her heartbeat rising. ' _Let's go, let's go, let's go_ '

The light turns white and someone bumps into her from behind. ' _Fuck_ ' and she flinches forward. Adora definitely noticed that. ' _Please leave it alone_ '

Adora, for her part, had a pretty decent handle on when to leave things alone.

Catra glances back. There were two people from before. Her heart starts racing.

"We're here," the blonde smiles at her, and they walk inside. ' _Right, five minute walk_ '

"Hey Rogelio!" Adora waves at the guy standing at the counter. He waves back friendlily.

He holds up a clipboard, and Adora signs her name and Catra's on one of the lines.

"Thanks!" Adora smiles at him and he smiles back.

Catra's chest twinges with something ' _Shut it idiot. It was a fucking smile. Adora is allowed to smile at other people. And why the fuck do you care?'_

Catra walks into the actual gym and let's out a sigh of relief when it only has a couple other people in it.

"So what are we starting with?" Catra was a little nervous. She pulls off the hoodie and holds it awkwardly. Last time she worked out was at least a year ago. Adora was obviously in _shape_. Perfect, sexy, breath taking shape.

"I usually run for about half an hour, and then start strength training,"

"Alright,"

Catra follows Adora to the treadmills. She had this, right?

Tentatively she steps onto the treadmill and glances at Adora who was setting up hers. Catra's gaze returns to her own, where she picks a standard run. She hesitates at speed and picks 6 miles an hour to start. The tread starts and she begins running.

She lays the hoodie over one of the sidebars and gets used to the pace.

Hey this was pretty easy. She looks over at Adora, who was fucking sprinting at this point. Adora was also staring at Catra and wearing a shit eating grin. Was she even trying?

Adora was running 12 miles an hour, with a grimace Catra ups hers to 13.

'Fuck fuck fuck' Catra's legs were moving much faster than they usually did, and her lungs were starting to feel it, but she would be damned if Adora was going to win this.

Still though, the woman next to her was upping speed, and Catra's eyes bulge out of their sockets. Adora set hers at 18. 'You could have at least been nice about it!' Catra cringes slightly, and hits the up button. Just gotta survive 19 for like five seconds.

To be fair to Catra, she does make it four, before the kill-switch gets pulled from it's magnet.

"Maybe that's enough cardio for today," Adora is rubbing the back of her neck shyly. A small sense of accomplishment washes over Catra as the blonde took deep gasping breaths.

' _I made god bleed dammi_ t' Catra was probably gonna die in the next few minutes, but being able to watch Adora panting was mostly worth it.

"So- what next?" Catra is still trying to breath.

"Shoulders and chest," Adora is walking away to the bench press, sliding plates onto the bar and clipping them in.

"Spot for me?" Adora asks, obviously being serious, but Catra's mind was in the gutter already and she nods eagerly.

As Adora slides under the bar, Catra sits down, straddling her hips. "Hey Adora,"

"You know we're in public, right?" Adora's voice trembles.

"So?" Catra shivers, remembering the previous night.

"So people are gonna stare,"

Catra looks around. There was nobody.

"Actually Princess, everyone else left. And it's only PDA if people are around. Besides I'm spotting for you, remember?" Catra leans over, until she's laying on Adora, whose face was cherry red.

"This isn't really, usually, how you spot,"

Catra growls at her slightly, and presses a kiss into Adora's neck hands pulling her collar down slightly. Then slowly and gently dragging her teeth down Adora's collarbone.

Underneath her, Adora tenses, hands coming up to hold Catra's waist.

Catra moves to kiss her on the lips, slowly. Languidly. And Adora is kissing her back.

Adora bites back a moan as Catra sucks softly on that _one_ sensitive spot. Catra can't really hear her though, her skin is on fire wherever they touch, and Adora is moving against her like she wants this as badly as Catra does.

"Catra," Adora's voice is breathy.

"Yeah?" Catra's hands are moving up Adora's hoodie. God her abs were incredible.

"We really can't do this here,"

"I know, I just- Sorry," she mutters slightly, now standing behind Adora's head. The butterflies in her gut were both dead and flipping the fuck out it seems..

Adora slides out from under the bar and smiles at her. "It's ok,"

That smile sent a jolt of energy down her spine. Catra kind of nods, but doesn't look her in the eye.

Did Adora feel the same way? No matter where they were, if Adora was near her the world started to fade away. And the way their bodies moved together, was incredible. Did Adora get that too?

Adora glances at her for a moment and frowns slightly. ' _Fuck. What is that supposed to mean?_ '

The blonde lifts the bar and it dips down. One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Adora slides out and starts unclipping the bar and sliding on more weight.

She does eight reps and repeats the process.

She keeps going in sets of five or eight, adding more weight each time.

' _Holy shit. That's one me,_ ' Adora's shoulders and arms were insane, and Catra wants to trace every line and vein she can see. But she holds back, cringing at herself mentally.

She loses count of the reps, and her train of thought.

"Are you ok?" Adora words shake her.

"Yeah, yeah definitely," She kind of stutters it out, but hopefully Adora didn't notice.

Knowing her though, she definitely had.

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	5. if looks gave heart attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adora gets a tattoo and Catra is conflicted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alt title: love you like an alcoholic

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Catra was fine.

Probably

Maybe

Hopefully.

This morning had been awkward. The taxi ride had been awkward. The gym had been awkward. And now that Scorpia thought the two of them were dating, _this_ was awkward.

Of course life got tough with Adora around.

Everything had been fine before, working for one of the world's most wanted drug lords, trying to keep three apartments, dealing with Shadow Weaver, the tattoo shop, and Scorpia.

As soon as Adora, who was literally perfect, showed up though? It all went to hell. Within the fucking month.

"I'm gonna run check my office quick, ok?" Catra's question was directed at Adora.

"Yeah, no problem Wildcat, that is totally cool with me. I can definitely handle the shop on my own," Scorpia's response was as usual, very Scorpia-y. At least some things wouldn't change.

She smiles apologetically at Adora, who was grinning at her like an idiot, before hurrying to the back. She locks the door behind her, and takes in a shaky breath.

She sits down in her fancy leather chair, and spins for a moment, then picks up the pile of mail on her desk.

Bill. Bill. Bill. Letter from Shadow Weaver? Fuck that. Bill. _Prime_.

Even though it had been awhile, the plain manilla envelope was obviously from her old employer. Her hands start to shake. ' _He already knows'_. The envelope tears open easily underneath her fingers. A letter and a phone fall out.

'Greetings Catra. I'm disappointed that we haven't heard from you recently. I'm willing to give you another chance, given your wonderful sales record. I'd like to have a meeting with you over a meal, in regards to future business arrangements. If you wish to attend, please call Contact Number 1 within the week. I'm sure I'll be hearing from you soon,'

Catra's anxiety disappears, before ramming back into her, like waves on a breakwater. Maybe he didn't know? He better not, otherwise she was walking into her grave with this meeting. And she couldn't not go. That was guaranteed death.

She hesitantly folds the letter back up then pockets the phone and the piece of paper.

She stares at the navy blue envelope from Shadow Weaver. She pockets that, and tosses the bills. They were all receipts anyway, which would be in the computers already if she had it set up right.

Her legs are trembling now, like Jell-O. She wanders over to the filing cabinets, and pulls out a bottle of vodka. Undoing the cap, she stares at it. The liquid shivers constantly, sloshing this way then that. In a move she tips it up to her lips and drinks deeply, once then twice, before re-covering it and stashing it again.

' _Breath mints. Where. arrrrrre... the breath mints?'_ She wracks her brain trying to remember, and grabs them off of a lamp stand.

She pops three into her mouth and works them over her tongue mask the smell. She sits back down in her leather chair and leans back, eyes closed.

No way around it. She was probably dead within the week. How would Adora take that? Would she care at all? A little? A lot? Catra turns that one over in her head. What did she want Adora to feel?

Catra laughs at herself slightly and stands up, walking out the door. Legs were working good, and hands were pretty chill. Even if Prime would kill her, this next week was gonna be the best she'd ever had.

Hopefully. It really depended on how Adora felt about her. Everything hinged on that right now.

' _God when did I get so fucking dramatic_?'

Her eyes narrow slightly when she sees Adora sitting in one of the chairs.

The blonde grins at her and her legs seem to forget how to move properly. ' _Should've drank more_ '

"So Scorpia and I were talking right?" Adora's smile hasn't dropped, and Catra's stomach is starting to do flips. She was fucking perfect.

"Yeah?" she tries her best to keep a confident tone. Adora definitely could not know how much power she had. It would freak her out.

"And I want a tattoo," Adora does that stupid half grin she does, which was super fucking annoying, because she looked hot.

"You're serious?" Catra stares at her, and she stares back.

"Yeah! Come on it'll be great!" There was something in her voice that made Catra wary of this whole thing. It seemed off for Adora. Interesting too. The phone and letter can wait. Knowing Prime , she had a little while to respond.

"Ok, but what do you want?" Catra uses her question as an excuse to stare, although she was fairly certain she didn't need one at this point.

"Something Nordic,"

"Like Mjolnir? Or something more like the tree, or the triangles?"

"The spiky sun thingy,"

"What?" Catra was not familiar with the spiky sun of norse myth, but follows Adora's finger to what she assumed was the Helm of Terror. It did kind of look like a sun. God Adora was such a dork.

"Alright Princess. Where were you thinking?" Catra flaunts the nickname as hard as she can, hoping to get some reaction from Adora. But she didn't. Adora was definitely playing a game. And winning no less.

"Mm. Probably under my collarbone, or on my shoulder or something," the way Adora said that had Catra worried. ' _What are the rules? Are you pulling some sick power play? Or are we both just idiots?_ ' Adora was definitely doing something. At this point it didn't matter if it was on purpose or not. And whatever the fuck it was, was working a lot more than Catra cared to admit.

"Ok-" Catra tries desperately to not bite her lip, but fails. "-Well you'd need to take off your shirt for that,"

"That's cool,"

The door bell rings and Catra curses to herself loudly. But instead of another customer it was Scorpia leaving the building. The open sign had been flipped to closed, and the door locked.

Catra mutters a mental thank you to her friend and looks back at Adora, whose eyes were drilling holes into her.

' _She's shirtless_ ' Catra stares like an idiot before she stoops to pick up a tattoo gun, and looks back down at Adora. God her _arms_. And her abs... and her shoulders... and her jaw... and those goddamn eyes. More and more often, she found herself just staring at Adora's eyes.

"About how big do you want it?" Catra shakes herself slightly. Business time

"Smaller I guess?"

' _She's gonna be so fucking close_ ' If Adora _had_ planned this it was goddamn diabolical.

"Are you sure your hands are gonna be steady enough?" Adora interrupts her just as she's about put the gun to skin.

"I've owned this shop for six years Adora. It'll look great,"

"Well yeah, I'm just saying, your hands might be a bit steadier if you were doing it at a better angle,"

"Oh yeah? And where would that angle be?" The butterflies in her stomach are back.

"Probably on my lap, right? It just seems a bit easier than doing it this way?"

Catra stares at her, which seemed to be happening a lot, and thinks. It should be easier, as long as she can keep her cool, and Adora didn't squirm so that wouldn't do anything, and it _would_ line up well. Not to mention she'd be in Adora's lap the entire time.

Catra doesn't move though. This would be a bad thing, no way around it. This whole thing would never work. Adora was a cop. And she was a drug dealer, technically ex-drug dealer, but whatever. Agent Patch had said it best. Around here time didn't erase mistakes.

"Please?" Adora's voice is low, and Catra shivers slightly snapping her out of her daze.

"Why?" Catra curses herself as her voice cracks.

"I want you to,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Adora is looking at her funny. Catra sighs a little, and stands, before sliding one leg over Adora's thighs and sitting down. Her arm runs down Adora's chest.

"This shouldn't take too long," Catra's focused on the tattoo now. Even if Adora was _intoxicatingly_ close, the art mattered too.

Then Adora's hands slide onto her hips and Catra almost jumps off of her. The two are frozen for a moment before "Why are you doing this?" Catra's voice quivers.

"What?" Adora was genuinely confused apparently.

"You pulled me in, and then you shoved me away. Why? Why can't you just- pick one so I can get over it? This morning when you had me up against the wall, you looked so ready. I was. And then you just dropped me. Is that all this is going to be? You dropping me?" Catra looks Adora in the eye, but the blonde drops her gaze. Usually she'd be mortified over admitting something like that. Being with Adora was so fucking weird.

"I don't know what what else to do. I'm in charge of protecting you. If I'm busy staring at you the entire time, then what happens? I can't let myself get distracted,"

"You already stare at me all the time. Plus, I can take care of myself,"

"Catra. This is different ok? I really like you, and if you died because I wasn't good enough..." Adora was crying.

' _Fuck, Oh fucking fuck, What do I say? How do you make someone stop crying?'_

"Adora, you don't have to worry about that. You barely know me, you shouldn't have to,"

Adora's tears start coming faster, but her face contorts in anger.

_'Oh fuck me, that wasn't right'_

"But I want to know you," Adora's voice is low and uneven. Catra can barely hear her.

"No you don't. If you knew me, you wouldn't like me,"

"I guarantee I would,"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, idiot,"

"You're the idiot!" Adora almost yells at her, and Catra flinches.

"Why?"

"Because when a girl is crying over something like this you're supposed to kiss her,"

"What?"

"It's what they do in the movies," Adora is kind of blubbering now, but she was still somehow hot. Catra sets down the tattoo gun. Adora was kind of a geek apparently.

"Adora this is real life-"

"Would you just kiss me?" Adora leans closer.

Catra's eyes flicker down to Adora's lips and she can feel herself leaning in. It was hard to describe her lips. Kind of like calloused hands? Not completely soft but still gentle. And they felt so good pressed up against her own. It was different than what Catra was used to. Especially coming from Adora. Definitely a good different, no question about it.

Adora's grip tightens around her waist and she sucks in a breath through her nose. Too soon Adora pulls back.

At the very least Adora's tears were gone. At the most? It was good she wasn't standing, otherwise Catra's legs might have given out. The blonde was much better at kissing than she had any right to be. When Adora doesn’t open her mouth again Catra picks the tattoo gun back up, and starts working. "Do you know what this signifies?"

"Not really no," Adora had that voice she did.

"It's called the Helm of Awe or the Helm of Terror. Some people believe the Vikings used it as a sigil of protection or to increase their battle prowess,"

"That's pretty cool,"

"You're a dork you know that?"

"Yeah, but you're kind of nerd,"

Catra laughs slightly, and traces back over her lines. The silence is starting to become deafening. Silence is bad when she's alone with Adora, it means thinking. Thinking is very _very_ bad.

"You come here often?" Catra had said the first thing she thought of and groans at herself internally. ' _Fucking idiot. One simple thing, and you went with that?_ '

"First time actually. This really cute girl brought me. It's pretty nice though. The vibes are good,"

Catra blushes slightly. ' _Idiot_ '

"Finished. May you terrify your foes, when you break down their doors at 9 in the morning, cause a random crazy lady called you," Catra sets down the gun and grins at Adora.

"Ok, that was like one time and you said you had a good enough time,"

"Mmm, depends on how ya look at it I guess. I have to buy a new door now so there's that,"

"If I remember correctly, you kind of liked the handcuffs,” Adora's face is smug, as she sits up straight, and starts nudging Catra backward.

"Hmm. I don't think I said that. And if I did it's because you were cheating,"

"How?"

"Doesn't matter. But you d-" Catra's voice dies as Adora presses a kiss into her neck.

"What was that?" Adora asks innocently, and Catra's eyes narrow.

"I sai-"

Adora kisses her jaw now, sucking softly.

Catra gives up and drapes her body over Adora's below her, savoring the sensation.

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Adora stares up at Catra, breathless. They were currently in the latter's office, on a fancy leather chair, that spun for some reason. Like it wasn't bougie enough already.

The woman above her is stunning. A physical manifestation of perfection. Adora presses a kiss into her sternum, before pulling back and grinning.

"Are you hungry?" Adora asks softly, hands still wandering mindlessly.

Catra laughs loudly "I don't know. I did just eat a lot,"

Adora blushes wildly and sputters. Did she have to say everything in that voice.

"Relax idiot, and yeah. I could eat,"

"What are you hungry for?"

Catra opens her mouth to say something but shuts it immediately, and thinks a little while. "Chinese sound good?"

"Yeah," Adora nods as she speaks, it was a stupid habit, and she didn't really know where she had picked it up.

Catra slides off of her and Adora suppresses a frown. It was oddly cold without Catra near her, and she finds herself missing the almost oppressive heat.

"Takeout? Or are we eating there?"

"Takeout," Catra's response is quick. She did know Bow and Glimmer were going to be home right? That was just _inviting_ death and despair.

Catra grinds down into her and her mind goes blank. Who cares honestly. Glimmer was definitely a problem for later.

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	6. can't stop, (i'm) addicted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're both confused dumbasses. What can I say?

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Chinese takeout was good for everyone it seemed. Bow and Glimmer were home, she had texted them to make sure. Both were enthused about food. Which was good. A peace offering to Glimmer and payment on Bow's dubious IOU... hopefully.

She squints, scrolling through review pages, knowing exactly where she was going already. The sun could be kind of annoying this time of day.

"Know where we're going?" Catra asks over the top of her phone. She was currently getting an Uber.

"Uh. Yeah," Adora smiles at her, hoping it was the right thing to do. Honestly, she could never tell with Catra. People in general were difficult these days, unless they were being direct and concise. So almost never.

Catra was an odd exception. She was clear and up front with everything, but still, Adora could not figure her out.

"You ok, Princess?" Catra's staring at her. Shit.

"Yeah! Why?"

"You've been staring at me for like a really long time. I was worried you'd had an aneurysm,"

"Oh! Yeah just a little lost in thought, I guess," A TBI was a way more likely explanation in this case. But Catra could never know that.

Catra's eyes light up, and a smile plays on the edge of her lips. "Oh yeah?"

Adora blushes and looks back at her phone, scrolling wildly. Every time, every damn time, she used that voice. For no reason either.

"Uber's on it's way," Catra steps a little closer.

"Oh, good, good,"

"So where are we going exactly?"

"This little shop on the way home. We call it Razz's. This little old lady runs the place and she's really nice. Plus the food is great,"

"As long as the egg rolls are good,"

"Best in town," Adora tries to do her best serious voice, which was oddly difficult. Catra's eyes were mesmerizing.

"We'll see about that," Catra rolls her eyes slightly, and turns away. Damn.

They stand in silence for a minute, when Catra's hand sneaks up to grab Adora's.

Her pace quickens, heart beating wildly.

The brunette to her right was inching closer and closer by the second. In a movement she's pressed against Adora's chest, pulling them into an intoxicatingly close embrace.

"Do you see the guy on the corner?" Catra's voice is quiet, face still buried in a shoulder.

Adora's daze snaps and she fights the urge to look directly at him. Carefully she turns her head to side-eye the guy.

"Yeah,"

"He's been standing there a really long time,"

"How long?"

"A couple minutes,"

"That's a long time?"

"The walk light has been on three times both ways. He should be gone by now,"

The panic in Catra's voice is obvious. She was oddly observant, especially for a civilian.

"Hey. It's gonna be okay. If he hasn't made a move yet, he probably won't,"

"Somehow that isn't reassuring,"

"Well... talk to me about something. Anything. I'll watch the guy until the Uber comes,"

"I don't want to be mean but that's kind of dumb"

"Don't care, just trust me. It can be stupid or it can be pretentious or whatever. I don't care, just talk about something,"

Catra's silent for a couple seconds. "Have you ever been high?" Catra's question isn't really what she's expecting. And Adora has a sneaking suspicion Catra asked her question with that exact reason in mind.

"Yeah,"

"Really? The perfect princess has done something bad in her life?" Catra's tone is teasing.

Adora's mind races memories popping up from years ago, ones that she could never quite leave behind.

"You know I'm breaking the law right now? Just by being here with you like this,"

"Wait, actually?"

Adora nods glumly. "It's definitely a conflict of interest. I can't believe Angella agreed to this."

She could actually. Hordak had a lot of power when it came to their employment. Probably too much, but it's not like complaining would change that.

"I do like having you around as a bodyguard though. Are you sure you're a cop?" Catra's voice was normalizing, which was definitely good.

"Yeah. Not by choice, but here I am," Adora curses herself. Catra was definitely going to latch onto that.

"I could hire you as my body woman or something," Catra blazes past, and Adora feels relief flood through her.

"In a couple years maybe,"

"I would kill to see you as a french maid," Catra's voice is back. The one she used to get under her skin. Adora can feel her face go red, flushing with warmth.

"What?" she can barely keep the quiver out of her voice too.

"Well if you're going to be my body woman. That's a job with a lot of roles Princess,"

Adora shivers at the thought, but looks down at Catra with a chiding glance.

"Ms. Weaver, I'm afraid you're being entirely too forward,"

Catra was, surprisingly, pulling away.

"Is that so Ms. Grayskull? Would you change your mind if I bought you dinner first?"

"I suppose it would do," Adora smiles weakly.

A red SUV pulls up behind them, and Catra smirks "What a coincidence," and swings the back passenger door open.

"Catra?" the driver looks back at them.

"Yup. Are you Kyle?"

"Yup,"

Catra grins again and slides into the car, holding out her hand to help Adora in. Not that she needed it, but it was nice. She grabs Catra's hand and gets in after her. Neither of them let go.

"Where to?" Kyle looks at them through the mirror.

"Razz's," Adora says it confidently, glancing at Catra as she says it.

"Alright," Kyle puts the car in gear and Adora smirks haughtily at Catra, who was surprised. It was a good look on Catra.

"Whatever," the brunette mumbles, looking down at her hand, which was still intertwined with Adora's.

' _Does she want to let go_?' Adora gets ready to, waiting for Catra's grasp to loosen. But it doesn't.

She looks at Catra, who was now looking at her. The woman opposite her blushes and looks away. But she doesn't let go. ' _What does that even mean?_ ' Adora's mind wanders. Her thumb starts moving, drawing circles. She never really means to do it, but when she's bored she draws circles with her fingers. Probably something she picked up on tour.

The car ride is mostly quiet, except for the radio. Adora thinks it's the Beatles playing. One of their stupid love songs. She almost scowls at the lyrics. It was just Paul and John screaming “I wanna hold your hand” on repeat. Normally she wouldn’t have minded it. Now though, it seemed childish. And probably hitting a little too close to home. Catra is looking at her, she can feel it. She turns to meet her gaze, but Catra's head snaps back left, to look out the window.

'Seriously, what's going on' Adora's left to wonder. She likes the way it feels though. Warm. Catra was warm.

“We’re here,”Kyle’s voice knocks her out of her thoughts.

“Could you stick around a little while? We’ll be quick,”

“Yeah, no problem,”�

Adore opens her door and steps out, still holding Catra’s hand no less. The two duck across the crowded street and into the little shop, where Razz, Adora’s favorite old lady, was currently standing at the register. The shop was old, with the trademark shabbiness of most Etherian businesses, but that was part of the charm.

“Oh hi Mara dearie!” her usual greeting.

Adora’s used to it by now, but truth be told the first time she’d come here for comfort food it was like a punch in the gut. “Hey Razz! But you know it’s me, Adora, right?”

“Of course dearie! You always come Saturday’s, and at the same time too!”

Which was more or less right, but that didn’t mean they had to talk about it. Adora smiles sheepishly at Catra, who was laughing at her. “What? Like I said the food is really good,” she rubs the back of her neck.

“ didn’t say anything!”� Capra is still laughing, but she at least tries to stifle it. Adore shoots her a look for good measure, before turning back to Razz.

“The usual dearie?"�

"Uh, yeah, and whatever she wants,"� Adora points a finger at Catra.

"Egg rolls please,"� Catra leaves it at that. Razz nods sagely and rings them up. Before Catra can react Adora hands cash over to pay.

"I told you I was buying dinner!"� Catra was glaring at her, and it was honestly kind of hilarious. Razz wanders off, humming to herself and almost dancing through the kitchen.

"I can’t actually remember that,"� Adora puts a hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"Don't lie to me,” Catra challenges, staring at her. She was really close.

"I would never,"� Adora jokes, but she still has to do her best to push down the twinge of guilt in her gut. And she _really_ has to try to leave a little space between them. This was public, and in public it was rude to kiss people. She'd been taught that from childhood. That being said, Catra was making very strong arguments to the contrary.

"Would you like me to remind you?"� Catra was being Catra again. And Adora was still conflicted about whether that was a good thing or not.

"It could help,"� Adora says, thanking fate that she's a couple inches taller than Catra. She could at least pretend to have some sort of control. Catra goes up on her tip-toe and leans in to whisper into her ear.

"The deal princess. Was that if I bought dinner, you'd be my body-woman,"� her lips are this close to her ear.

"I guess that means, you're my body-woman now,” Adora whispers back, making certain to brush her lips past Catra's cheek. She's satisfied with the blush that ghosts over Catra's face as she pulls away.

"Your food is done dearies!"� Razz calls from behind the counter, holding a bag out to them. Catra jolts backward, mouth still open a little, and Adora grins slightly. So she wasn't as invincible as she seemed sometimes.

"Thanks Razz!”�

"Of course dearie! Take care of your new friend! She seems very nice!"� Razz yells it over her shoulder as she walks away, now swaying in time to an inaudible tune.

Adora wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Being friends with Catra would be the best case scenario, but she felt oddly dissatisfied with the thought. And it would be hard to go to being just friends considering they had been sleeping together for a month. They get back into the car together, and Adora realizes they're still holding hands.

"Where to next?"� Kyle looks up from her phone to look back at them.

"Uh, 1293 Chestnut Avenue,” Adora responds.

The car ride is quiet, verbally anyway.

Mentally Adora is freaking out. Catra hadn't stopped holding her hand.

What did it mean? Did she want something? Was it nerves? Was she playing an elaborate game Adora couldn't hope to comprehend?

Truth be told Adora had never been in situations like this. There were all sorts of reasons that all happened to be made up. She'd dated of course, but that never really lasted long. She had no useful life experience here, and it was starting to drive her nuts.

Because what the hell was she supposed to do?

' _Ohh, she's keeping the act up_ ,' Adora's panic clears, but the weight in her gut doesn't.

The car stops and she panics. Glimmer was definitely home.

Which she knew coming into this... but her friend could be terrifying sometimes. Even Catra looked nervous, which was reassuring. And worrying. But whatever.

"Thanks so much," Adora calls through the door

"Of course. Just give me a good review, yeah?"

"No problem!" Adora definitely would, as long as she remembered.

The two stand in silence outside the apartment complex, still holding hands no less.

"I always hated this shade of white," Adora speaks without meaning to.

"What is that even supposed to mean?" Catra shoulder bumps her, laughing.

"Well, y'know it's just a really dumb shade of white. Somewhere between eggshell and straight blanc, y'know?"

"Princess, I can't believe I'm saying this. But you might possibly be the most boring person I know,"

"What?"

"If you think the shade of white paint on your apartment is that important, then I'm sorry I think we should see other people," Catra laughs as she says it, but it dies in her throat almost immediately. Adora's eyes go wide and she looks over at the brunette, who had decided now was a good time to inspect the sidewalk for cracks.

' _And what the hell does that mean? There's no one else around we don't even have to be holding hands_ ,' Adora stares for another second. "Catra? What do you-"

"Just forget about it, ok?" Catra almost rips her hand out of Adora's.

' _The hell I will. Use your words please for the love of god_ ,' but Adora doesn't push it farther. That usually did the opposite of help when it came to Catra.

"You ready to face the wrath of Sparkles?"

"Nope, but the food is getting cold... and that will piss her off more," Adora really is nervous. It was way different between Bow and Glimmer. Bow was quick and concise.

Glimmer was much more the waterboarding with gasoline type.

Adora takes the first step, and opens the door for Catra behind her. The lights were really bright today, annoyingly so. They step into the elevator, awkwardly too. Catra is almost dancing around her, standing in the complete opposite corner.

The elevator stops with a pleasant ding and the two step out into the hallway, walking down the well worn carpeting to Adora's apartment.

"Y'know, we don't actually have to go in. We could go to your place, or the gym, or back to Razz's,"

"Adora. We're already here, and you're gonna have to talk to each other eventually. You live with her," Catra's voice is gentle at least.

"I could move out," but even as she says it Catra's hand is on the door handle, which was unlocked for whatever reason.

"Aaaand here we go," Catra looks back at her to speak as the door swings open.

Adora gulps hard, before taking a step forward. "We're here!" she calls out and the door closes behind them.

Glimmer materializes from around the corner and smiles broadly, staring at them both with the intensity of hellfire.

' _We're so screwed,'_

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	7. thoughts of you haunt my heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer might just need some sleep.

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"I was starting to wonder where you were!" Glimmer shouts even though they're standing right next to her.

"Oh yeah, we got, uh-" Glimmer snatches the bag of food out of her hands and Adora pauses for a second "-caught in traffic," Adora glances between her right hand and Glimmer, still processing the switch.

"Oh that's no problem at all!" Glimmer was grinning wider than anyone ever should, baring her teeth almost predatorily.

Before Catra or Adora can respond Glimmer walks off, heading to the dining room where Bow was sitting at the table. "Hey guys," he calls out, waving from his spot, grinning nervously.

' _Yep, she's gonna kill us_ ,'

Adora sits down, stealing glances between the door, Glimmer, and Bow. Running was still a legitimate option, but she'd be leaving Catra for the wolves... She settles for tapping her foot, switching every now and again between toes and heel.

"So how was your guys' day?" Glimmer asks, hands tearing apart a set of chopsticks and beginning to eat. Her voice the same kind of sickly sweet as rotting leaves in fall.

"Fine,"

"Oh really? What did you guys do?"

"Just stuff,"

"What kind of stuff," Glimmer's eyes narrow into daggers. Adora bites back the urge to say each other. Because as much as that would throw Glimmer off her rhythm, it would probably be in a bad way. Like murderous syncopation.

They'd been kind of productive. And it's not like they'd done nothing.

"Well we went to the gym-"

"I figured," Glimmer says, still looking back and forth between them.

"And we went to Catra's shop,"

"Oh? What kind of shop?" 

"Well it's a tattoo place,"

"So it's not a shop. It's a tattoo parlor," Glimmer corrects, needling back.

"Which is a shop," Adora said slowly. Catra was being oddly quiet beside her, eating slowly. It was probably best not to poke the beehive but Adora was wishing for some kind of back up.

"Potato, Tomato," Glimmer countered, picking up another bit of food that disintegrates before she can eat it.

"That doesn't even make sense," Adora's face contorts in confusion.

"Yes it does! You know it does! Bow, back me up,"

The man looks up suddenly from a carton of rice. "Well... uhm. I think what Glimmer, might possibly, kinda sorta, be saying is that a tattoo parlor isn't necessarily what comes to mind when someone mentions owning a small business,"

"Then what do you do that you're so proud of Sparkles?" Catra challenges, glaring openly.

"I work at an engineering firm," Glimmer almost yells back.

"For your dad," Adora clarifies, also glaring.

"Well I'll take being a business owner over working for my parents for my entire life Sparkles," Catra says, smirking.

"Oh hush little kitty the grown-ups are talking," Glimmer retorts, refusing to even glance at Catra. The brunette nearly stands up from her chair.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Well it looks like you've basically moved in with us, and it's not like you're going to pay rent!"

"I can pay rent if you want me to pay goddamn rent Sparkles! As it turns out I have enough money to pay my fucking bills! Without mommy and daddy bankrolling me!"

"So you are moving in!" Glimmer shouted back, pointing wildly, and standing.

"Maybe I am!" Catra yelled knocking over her chair to look down on the purple clad woman across from her.

"No you aren't!"

"Why the fuck not?"

"Because even if I liked you as a person I'd still fucking say no! You two are disgusting to even be near! I could barely stay awake at work today because I couldn't sleep last night!"

"And how is that my problem?" Catra was calming down slightly, noticing the bags under Glimmer's eyes.

"Gee, I don't know! Maybe because the fucking top floor couldn't sleep with all your screaming!" Glimmer grabs a chair and stands on it, just to yell down at Catra.

The brunette opened her mouth once then shut it. Adora, who had been watching with an odd mix of fascination and horror, could feel the blush flooding her face right now. "Glimmer!" Adora stands too and Bow sighs softly, slouching against the back of his chair.

"What? You don't want to talk about it?! Guess what? I didn't want to either! But some people don't understand common fucking courtesy!" and slams a fist down on the table to emphasize her point. Bow picks and prods through his last little bit rice as slowly as he can.

"It's not a lack of understanding Sparkles, it's called not giving a fuck," Catra says smoothly, glaring at Glimmer.

"You are, the most, insufferable person, I have ever met!"

"You're a pretentious snob who had everything given to you!"

"What? Like you were raised by a pack of wolves in the middle of Antarctica?"

"It would have been a better childhood, trust me,"

"I don't trust you! At all! I've never even seen you before today!" Glimmer shouts, and Catra actually flinches backward a bit.

"Ok-" Bow rubs his eyes softly before pinching the bridge of his nose with his index fingers "-Glimmer dear? How about we go try to sleep for an hour? You're doing the thing,"

"What thing!?" Glimmer whips around to glare at Bow, who only shrank away a little.

"When you don't get enough sleep, you want to kill everyone until you take a nap,"

"I do _not_ do that," Glimmer growls, eyes shooting daggers at him.

"You're doing it right now. You're trying to set me on fire with your eyes," Bow grins up at her apologetically and she turns away.

"It should have worked," Glimmer mutters under her breath. "Ok, but this is not over just because I'm leaving! As soon as I get back in exactly an hour we are starting this right up where we left off!" Glimmer steps off her chair as she talks, jabbing her index finger forward to point at Catra.

"Whatever Sparkles. I'll be here,"

"Of course you will," Glimmer says laughing, only slightly manic, and saunters off before Catra can respond.

Bow chuckles nervously and fidgets with his hands. "She'll probably pass out as soon as she hits the bed, but I think I'm probably going to go to sleep too. Make sure she doesn't sleepwalk out here later," he stands and picks up the empty dishes and trash. "Really sorry about all this by the way. She isn't usually so aggressive,"

"It's no problem. I'm aware of the effect I have on women, so this is kind of my fault," Catra says, probably playing it cool. Why it had to be at Adora's expense was something else entirely.

Bow sorts out the dishes and trash he has and pauses before he disappears. "Well actually Catra, I'm fairly certain it was Adora's effect on you," and sprints away before either of them can register what he'd just said.

Adora keels over laughing, clutching lightly at her side.

"It wasn't that funny," Catra mutters sipping on her glass of water, but it was good that the tension had been cut through a little. "Well since tonight is already ruined-" Catra reaches into her bag and pulls out a small manilla folder "-This came for me today," and hands it to Adora. She opens it curiously, but careful not to rip the packaging.

A short note and a burner phone were inside. It was from Prime. Adora's eyes flick through the text and her heart sinks.

A flash of panic floods through her and she checks to see of the phone is on. It isn't, which is kind of good. She hurries to the fridge and dumps it into the back before closing the door. Catra stares at her confused.

"It could be bugged," she says blushing slightly.

"I doubt that,"

"Maybe. But I'm not taking any chances," Adora keeps her face dead calm as hard as it is. It was such a corny line. But Catra blushes softly. "Shit! We have to go to the precinct tomorrow morning!" Adora shouts, veins now filled with even more adrenaline.

"What?"

"I just remembered. Chief Angella called this morning, we have to be there at seven,"

"In the AM?" Catra spits the syllables like poison.

"Yes, Catra... in the AM. Like normal people,"

"That sounds awful. How do you manage?"

"Binge drinking and shooting guns," Adora says without skipping a beat and shudders internally. She had not meant to say that.

Fortunately Catra laughs. "Not too different then,"

Adora doesn't really know how to respond, so she walks back to Catra and grabs her hand. "We should talk." Catra's eyes go wide and she opens her mouth to say something but Adora cuts her off "It's nothing bad ok? I probably should have said that differently,"

"Ok," Catra's voice is timid, for one of the first times Adora has ever experienced. She gently pulls Catra out of her chair and over to the couch.

"Is it alright if we cuddle?" Adora asks, blushing softly. She doesn't really know why. They've been much more intimate a lot of times in the past couple months. Catra nods though, and Adora's heart beats a little harder.

She sits down and Catra settles onto her lap, head resting against her collarbone, kind of under her chin kind of not. Adora wraps her arms around the brunette's torso, hugging her in closer. "I've never actually done this before," she says softly.

"What?" Catra mumbles and shifts in a bit closer.

"Brought someone home to meet the parents," Adora says laughing slightly. Catra's shoulders jump up in a small chuckle.

"I haven't either," Catra admits.

"Why?"

"No parents to go home to for one,"

"Oh! I'm so sorry I didn-"

"Do not." Catra warns voice hard. "You just said you don't have actual parents either,"

"I guess," Adora mutters. "But that's not really true. I had a foster father,"

"Foster parents don't count Adora, that's why they add foster on to the front. I had a foster mother. Technically still do I guess,"

"What?"

"One of my supers. She was my foster mom for a _while_. Her name is Sharon Weaver,"

"Your foster mom called the cops on you?"

"Have I mentioned her name is _Sharon_?"

Adora laughs slightly. "Still though. That's kind of cut-throat,"

"You have no idea," Catra mutters darkly.

"I might," Adora murmurs back, thoughts flitting through memories she'd been trying to forget, some for decades.

"What do you mean?" Catra pulls away slightly to look Adora in the eyes.

The blonde's gaze darts away. "Forget about it,"

" _Adora_ ," Catra's tone isn't intruding, more concerned. Adora did this a lot. Dropped a bombshell like that, probably on accident, and then pretended like she hadn't.

"My foster dad. He was really militarily oriented. He never actually served though, which is bullshit. But he raised us like we were soldiers,"

"What happened?" Catra hugs the blonde a little closer.

"I don't really want to talk about it," Adora mumbles.

"Do Glimmer or Bow know?"

"Bow does, a little. But not really Glimmer,"

"Then you have to talk to someone about it. It doesn't have to be tonight. It doesn't have to be me. But you have to talk to someone Adora," Catra looks her in the eyes, and Adora doesn't shy away this time.

"I know. And I will, just... not right now," Silence falls between them, and Catra nudges back into the base of Adora's collarbones. "I actually wanted to talk about us too though. This wasn't some guilt trip to tell you I didn't have parents," Adora says awkwardly.

Catra laughs underneath her "I know dummy," but Adora can still feel the brunette tense up slightly.

"I really really like you. And I don't know what to do about that,"

"We could go out to dinner. I hear that's what they do in the movies," Catra supplies helpfully.

"Shut up." But Adora is laughing slightly too. "I just mean, if this were normal circumstances I probably would have asked you out by now,"

"Adora we've been sleeping together for three _months_ ,"

"My mouth has been kind of busy," Adora says back sweetly.

It's Catra's turn to say "Shut up,"

"Honestly though. I've been working up the courage to ask you out for a while,"

"I say again Adora. We've been sleeping together for a months,"

"Still though!"

"Still what?"

"What if you said no?"

Catra jerks out of her arms and glares at her. "I've been waiting for you to ask me for three weeks, and you were worried I'd say no?" Disbelief written across her face.

Adora squirms under her. "Maybe?"

"Then ask me idiot! I'm not gonna say no," Catra leans back in, cheek resting on Adora's shoulder, nose almost tickling her neck.

Adora's quiet for awhile. "I can't anymore,"

"Why not?" Catra does her best to keep her voice even, free of disappointment. She fails miserably.

"Because... I'm your bodyguard now. It wouldn't be safe. I can't do it,"

Catra bites back the urge to tell her she can. That she has to. It isn't fair. She settles for "I'm fairly certain you agreed to be my body-woman though,"

Adora blinks once and grins softly. "Maybe every once in awhile. But it has to be at home,"

"Scared of getting caught?" Catra jokes, but she knows why even if she won't admit it.

Adora hmphs softly, and the two remain quiet. Adora can feel herself nodding off, and Catra is too. She blinks heavily once then twice and picks the brunette up gently, carrying her to the bedroom.

She sets Catra down in bed and pulls the covers up to her chin. Catra got cold really easily after all. She tip toes backward, fairly certain Catra is in fact asleep. Silently she lays out extra blankets and padding on the ground. Her back was gonna be murderous tomorrow. She makes a mental note to get an air mattress, or something at least.

She lays back on her mound of jumbled bits of anything she'd found and tries to get comfortable. She really can't sleep though.

Above her, in bed, Catra lets out a small whine of annoyance and flops over. Adora smiles lightly. She can hear Catra's arms snow-angel-ing through the blankets.

"Adora?" Catra's still half asleep by the sound of it.

"Yeah?" Adora replies, whispering, from her makeshift bed.

"Why are you on the ground? Did you throw yourself out of bed again?"

"Ok, that was one time, and you promised you wouldn't talk about it,"

"Whatever-" Catra throws a hand in the air waving it slightly "-Are you coming back up to the bed?"

"Well uh..."

"Honestly. You can shoot the bad guys just as easily from up here as you can down there. And my feet are cold,"

"Your feet are always cold,"

"Not true Princess,"

"But what if my feet are cold?"

"Would you just shut up already and get in this goddamn bed? There is no way that unholy tower of nothing is even comfortable,"

Adora sighs and gets up out of her glorified blanket fort, which was far too flat to be a fort. She unclips her holster and sets the pistol on her nightstand, before taking the two steps to fall down in bed next to Catra.

The brunette wastes no time clambering on top of her as soon as she's under the blankets.

"You wanted me as a pillow huh?" Adora says, arms loosely wrapped around Catra's torso.

The brunette offers a fading 'mph' as her only response and Adora can feel herself falling asleep already. Catra's familiar weight holding her down from moving too much.

Her eyes flutter and she's dreaming.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/


	8. your wind is blowing, and over i go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything's a mess all the time.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Adora was nervous. Probably more than Catra was and definitely more than she should have been.

She'd woken up before her alarm, and she hadn't stopped moving since, nervously jittering in some way. Catra had even grabbed her hands, but her foot started tapping almost immediately.

They were all in an old storage locker, far away from the actual precinct. 

Angella sat opposite them, flanked by Huntara and Agent Patch. "Considering Prime reached out to you, it's very good to see you both again,"

"Glad to be here," Catra muttered. Adora smiles weakly. The manilla folder sits menacingly on the table, letter and phone stacked on top of it.

"I won't lie this does mess with what we had planned. Considerably so. But it isn't as bad as it could have been. In fact it really only means we're moving our time table forward. As annoying as it is we should be able to handle it in stride,"

"Happy to hear I'm still in good hands," Catra flashes a small smile.

"The best," Angella says kindly, folding her hands in front of her. "We've already planned your escort for the meeting. We just need to know time and place at this point. So immediately after this you're going to a public space to call Prime back and set up your meeting. Adora can send the details to me with this," Huntara sets a sat phone on the table.

"Who's all coming?" Adora asks.

"Sea Hawk and us," 

"Bow isn't?"

"Bow has connections that make it ill advised to send him. The less he knows the better," Angella's voice is hard, like Adora shouldn't have even asked.

"Why?" Catra challenges slightly.

"Excuse me?" Angella's sharp gaze falls on Catra.

"If we're working together I'd like to know why Bow isn't coming. Wouldn't it make sense to have a sniper somewhere close by?"

"Adora is qualified to run overwatch. She's passed the same tests that Bow has," Huntara reassures with a hand raised off her other arm.

"What connections does he have though?" Catra's eyes narrow.

Angella sighs softly. "He's married to my daughter,"

"You're Glimmer's mom?" Catra leans forward, over the table slightly, disbelief infused in her body language.

"Yes," Angella's voice is terse.

"And they're married?" Catra eyes are zigzagging across the ceiling, thinking wildly about the two.

"Yes," Angella replies, annoyance obvious. Catra pauses to glare at Adora who didn't even notice. She glances back at Adora. "As of now you've been officially released by the Etherian Police Department for particular violations of the code of conduct, outside the line of duty. Public understanding, at least legally, is that Catra is currently under investigation for drug trafficking,"

"So is this the last meeting we'll have face to face?" Adora's mouth hangs open a little.

"That remains to be seen," Catra frowns as Angella speaks.

"I don't like this Chief," Adora scowls deeply.

"Nobody does, it's the best we can do,"

"Why can't we call the Feds?" Adora continues, mind racing to find something a little more assured.

"I am the Feds," Agent Patch offers helpfully.

"You know what I meant," Adora narrows her eyes. She'd met quite a few agents from the DEA. So far she'd only hated the NCIS more.

"Do I?" Patch narrows her eyes right back and Adora lets out a puff of air in annoyance.

"Whatever. You get it right Chief?" Adora pleads with her eyes.

Angella pinches the bridge of her nose. "Hordak has already made it quite clear how the Department is going to handle this,"

"And the DEA is alright with that?" Adora asks turning to the Agent now.

"Peachy kid. Suh long as we get Prime before anyone else," Patch smiles dangerously.

"Even if anyone else could do it faster?" Adora asks voice low.

"Eh-specially then," Patch leans over the table a little, hands folded neatly.

"Kind of a stupid philosophy if you ask me," Adora mutters. Catra nods slightly next to her.

"Then it's a good thing no one is," Patch scowls and leans back.

"I might be," Huntara shoots back, glaring openly but behind Angella's back.

"Are you all quite done?" Angella's voice is raised and her anger is palpable. When none of them answer she nods once and clasps her hands together. "We are going to work together at our absolute best because nobody in this room has the liberty to walk away from this. And Catra deserves nothing less. I think we all appreciate what she's risking here,"

"I doubt it," Adora mumbles, glaring at a small mark in the table. Neither Angella nor Patch respond and Adora lets out a small sigh of relief.

"Catra you'll be entering the restaurant alone. Adora will be stationed in a nearby building in case things go awry. Sea Hawk will be inside already, out of sight but ready. Agent Patch and Huntara will be taxi drivers to get you to and from the meeting. You'll be guarded at all times, and your safety is all but guaranteed,"

"There is no way Patch is going anywhere near the meeting," Adora countered, face brimming with anger.

"She will because I sa-"

"What's wrong kid? Don't trust me ta drive a car,"

"You're DEA," Adora gestures wildly with her hands at Patch's everything.

"I am a qualified field agent,"

"Congrats! You can write tickets for possession of weed in the heat of Arizona!" Adora is almost yelling.

Patch opens her mouth to respond but Angella cuts her off "Enough! Your petty squabbling is childish at best! Degrading of Catra's wellbeing at worst! Can't you have a modicum of professionalism?" Angella's jaw quivers with anger.

"I'm not wrong," Adora challenges.

"I don't care," Angella glare cuts right through her and she can feel herself shrink backward.

"You are wro-"

"I do not care," Angella spits through clenched teeth. Adora grins slightly. Patch's voice had been small and reserved. She'd hit a nerve which was perfect. Vindication courses through her veins. "The two of you are not to speak until after the meeting with Hordak,"

"Yes ma'am," Adora glances down at her hands, feeling the slightest bit ashamed. Across from her Patch nods.

"Good. Sea Hawk will pick you up the night of the meeting Adora. Now get out of my sight," Angella waves them off placing her head in her hand already. Catra and Huntara stand first but Adora quickly follows suit. The three leave together, and as soon as the door drops, closed behind them Huntara bursts out laughing.

"Holy shit Rookie!"

"What?"

"I just... can't believe you just did that,"

"It was very aggressive," Catra agrees, a finger on her chin feigning thoughtfulness.

Adora squirms under her gaze "I didn't do anything wrong," her voice is defensive.

"Oh god no Rookie! You did everything perfectly! It's just... you're you after all," Huntara is still chuckling softly.

"I'm not exactly a huge fan either, but why do you guys hate the DEA?" Catra eyes them both warily.

"Because they're the DEA. They're just... that kind of person," Huntara throws her hands up a little, shrugging, and leaves it at that. Catra looks at Adora who shrugs too.

"That's pretty much it," the blonde's eyes wander probably trying to think of examples.

"Whatever. We should get going Adora," Catra speaks before Adora loses herself. She didn't want to wait for that train of thought.

"I need you both to remember that you can only trust Patch as long as you're useful to her," Huntara was looking at them both as she spoke, worry obvious.

"I don't trust her at all," Adora mutters.

"You know as well as I do the only way this works is with trust kid," Huntara says gently. Adora huffs loudly and turns to leave without another word.

"Take care of each other!" Huntara calls after them as a farewell. Catra and Adora disappear out the door.

"Can we talk about what the hell just happened?" Catra whispers as they come onto the sidewalk.

"Later please," Adora mumbles back.

Catra gently grabs the blonde's hand as they walk. She had a very good reason to, and she's grateful for the situation she's in. In a very weird way.

They walk toward the city's main park, through a considerably smaller crowd of pedestrians. Catra's heart rate doesn't even pick up. The fall sun was perfect, even if the air was starting to turn a bit brisk.

"So what are we gonna do today?" she asks, once they've stepped into the green expanse at the center of Etheria.

"Not sure yet," Adora replies, mind obviously elsewhere.

Catra squeezes her fingers softly, and Adora looks back down at her. Even now Catra's heart flutters just looking at those blue eyes.

"What it it?" Adora asks, worry etched across her face. Her gorgeous perfect face.

"Is everything really okay?" Catra makes sure her lips twitch down a little and her eyes roam across Adora's face.

"Yeah! Just uh, thinking,"

"Don't hurt yourself," Catra teases, grinning slightly. Adora pouts a little and looks around. People were everywhere.

"Bench?"

"I guess," Catra's reply is half hearted, thoughts now returning to their current situation. They meander through the park, which is actually kind of small, trying to find a secluded area. They settle for the edge of the main pond. A group of ducks was swimming around, quacking happily.

Catra breathes deeply and pulls out the burner phone. She dials the number already in the contacts and waits.

The line rings for longer than she expected and her fist tightens. Anxiety begins to naw at her.

"Hello?" a gruff voice answers and Catra frowns. She'd been expecting Prime to answer.

"It's Catra,"

The man snorts into the receiver. "Didn't think you'd have the guts to call back,"

Catra doesn't reply, waiting for the only person who mattered in the organization.

"It's so wonderful to hear from you again Catra. I'm glad you've come to your senses," Prime's smooth tone sounds from the phone and Catra stiffens.

"Yeah... I'm regretful to have left the business in the way that I did," she keeps her voice even.

"Don't fret sister. I always knew you'd return eventually,"

"Where would you like to meet?"

"That depends entirely on how much capitol you wish to invest," Prime answers the way he usually did. Catra feels a small sense of relief, at least this hadn't changed.

"As much as I need to," Catra replies. She can almost see him smile. This is what he did. Gave people favors, usually explicitly avoiding the implication that they had to be repaid, until one day he would come knocking in the night. It was the best way to get close to him though, by owing as many favors as possible.

"Then I believe I have just the place. Do you know of The Seagate?"

"Of course." Most of their meetings had happened there when she _actually_ working for him. And there was no way he didn't remember that.. It also happened to be one of the most upscale restaurants in the nation. He was already playing his stupid game.

"Perfect. I believe I promised lunch, but I believe given our current arrangements that dinner might be more appropriate,"

"I completely agree," Catra nods even though he can't see her. She didn't though, which made her worry. She was already a step behind.

"Wonderful Catra. I'll have a table for four ready at 6:30. Under the usual name,"

"For four?" Catra chokes on nothing, and does her best to catch her breath without wheezing loudly.

"Of course Catra! You bring that charming plaything of yours and I bring one of my bodyguards," She can practically hear his smile as he talks.

"How long-how long have you known about her?" Catra manages to make it through without her voice cracking, but adrenaline and worry were flooding her system. She can already feel the high coming on.

"Long enough. I was... worried, about your safety. You left without even saying good bye after all. I feared the worst. I still do if I'm quite honest,"

"But, I-" Catra is stammering.

"Don't worry sister! I've not breached your privacy. After all I've not lost all faith in you. And once I was sure you would come crawling back to our business I left you two alone. It hardly seemed civilized to have someone following a business partner around constantly,"

"R-right. Table for four at 6:30-" Catra trails off leaving it as a question.

"Tomorrow night will do. I'm eager to discuss what you've been doing with all of this free time of yours,"

"Tomorrow it is,"

"Until then dear sister,"

"I look forward to it,"

"Get rid of the phone, you won't have need of it," Prime says as the line goes dead.

Catra fights the urge to scream. She settles for ripping apart the phone, and throwing it into the water. Adora was watching her intently, she could feel it.

"That didn't sound good," Adora says with a nervous chuckle.

"We're fucked. So incredibly fucked," Catra rubs her hands over her face.

"Is it really that bad?" Adora returns to her normal serious self. Intense blue eyes swirling with worry, like storm surges crashing over a beach.

"For starters we have to go shopping-" Adora groans loudly, shoulders slumping "-and the plan that your boss came up with is ruined,"

"What's happening?" Adora asks, pulling out the sat phone already, and looking over at her expectantly.

"You're going to be my date tomorrow," Catra says hopelessly.

Adora's eyes go wide and she freezes slightly. "What?"

"Prime already knows... way to much if I'm being honest. I don't know if we can outplay him from this point. He explicitly invited you,"

"What the hell am I gonna wear?" Adora breathed her question, eyes frantic. Catra can't help but laugh out loud.

"That's what you're worried about?" She can't help her tone, mocking and disbelieving. "Not the fact that you're coming face to face with someone who was having you stalked. And you didn't even know it?"

"I've been in worse situations," Adora's response is ice cold. She was being completely serious, and Catra knew it, but that doesn't change the deep-seated doubt in her gut.

"Don't lie," she mutters, looking away, blushing.

"I'm not," Adora mumbles before standing up. Any hint of whatever had just come over vanished into thin air. "You said we're going shopping?"

"Yeah," Catra looks back at her.

"Then let's get it over with now. And we can spend the rest of our day together doing something fun," Adora starts walking away before Catra can respond. The brunette can't decide if she wants to laugh or frown but jogs after Adora anyway.

/-/-/-/-/-/--/-/-/-/-/-/-/

"If that asshole thinks I'm showing up in a suit that's not better than his in every way he has another thing coming," Catra growls as they step into the shop. She knew she would probably be wrong. Everything Prime owned would be perfectly made by his personal tailors.

She can see Adora grin out of the corner of her eye but she marches off toward an attendant before the blonde can respond.

"How can I help you today ma'am?" The man smiles nicely enough but his eyes flicker nervously between her and Adora.

"I need a three piece suitt by tomorrow at noon," Catra speaks smoothly. She had gotten used to this side of Prime's empire. Lavish spending on anything you could possibly want.

"That might be problematic for a number of reasons ma'am,"

"And why is that?" Catra's narrows her eyes pointedly.

"Well we have quite a few orders in at the moment. Not to mention tomorrow would be rushing our staff considerably. I don't mean to assume anything but the cost of the suit alone might be a burden, even before courtesy and haste charges. Especially given you would be superseding no less than there other customers,"

"Money isn't an object," Catra replies. She can sense Adora stiffen behind her.

"Are you quite certain ma'am?" The man was wringing his hands, his eyes were darting everywhere, and she could see a thin sweat breaking out on his forehead,

"Utterly," Catra says, taking a step forward and glaring.

"Name to put the room under please?" The man asks, hands hovering slightly.

"The usual name," Catra doesn't bother to look at him. She knew how the affluent in this city reacted to the phrase. Their eyes always widened, mouth hanging open a little. Once upon a time Catra had relished the feeling of power it gave her.

"We'll have a room ready for the both of you immediately," the man says smiling graciously and bowing his head. He pushes a couple buttons and gestures for them to follow. The three of them come to a door labeled seven and he opens it inward.

"A tailor will be with you momentarily," the man says as he backs out of the room. Eyes still a little wide with worry.

When Catra doesn't respond Adora mutters a "Thank you."

Adora tosses a roaming glance around the room and settles on a cushioned seat. Catra wanders over to her and stares. Eyes tracing the lines of Adora's arms and legs. The blonde in question stares back at her, face conflicted Catra hadn't touched Adora in the way she was craving for more than a day and she was starting to feel it. She curses herself somewhere in the back corner of her mind, for becoming so dependent so quickly. She doesn't listen to it.

Tentatively she takes Adora's hands and pulls her forward to the edge of the chair. The blonde looks back at her, eyes staring her into oblivion with their intensity.

In one smooth movement she's sitting in Adora's lap, legs wrapped haphazardly around her. She presses a greedy kiss against the blonde's lips. Adora pushes back, and Catra lets out a small groan of approval.

Adora also pulls away almost immediately. "Can we do this here?"

"We're selling it. The tailor is gonna be one of Prime's people," Catra whispers. She knew how flustered Adora got from warm breath across her ear. She was also giving Adora an out. She knew they didn't have to sell it. Prime had invited her along to dinner.

Still, Adora's eyes flash with excitement, and she pushes her lips back up against Catra's but almost immediately wanders off. Down her jaw to her neck, then down down from there, traveling toward her collarbone.

Catra slips her hands under the fabric of Adora's shirt. One hand traces over her abs while the other moves to her back, fingers ghosting over Adora's incredibly toned muscles. She moans involuntarily as Adora sucks on that one spot on her neck. One that Adora knew very well at this point.

Her lungs burn and her nails break through Adora's skin. She pulls away from Adora's lips panting lightly. "Adora," she whispers, her voice quivering. The blonde has the nerve to chuckle softly and lean forward.

"Yeah, Catra?" The brunette can barely suppress a curse and she's about to respond when the door clicks open behind them.

"Goddammit," Catra mutters and turns back to glare at the person who had just walked. Unfortunately the person in question rarely felt threatened by Catra.

"Oh darling!" Double Trouble was smirking from the door way, measuring tapes slung around their shoulders with a green and black three piece suit hanging from their frame. Double Trouble closes the door behind them and walks in.

"Can't you come back later?" Catra growls as best she can, still trying to catch her breath.

"Absolutely not! I live for this kind of tension, and the room is just full of it. Besides! Appearances matter when it comes to powerful people!"

"How do you already know about that?"

"Oh I know everything darling!" Double Trouble laughs loudly and gestures for Catra to come over to the fitting area, encircled by mirrors. The brunette stands hesitantly, pulling her hands out from under Adora's shirt.

Adora fidgets with the fabric so it hangs properly again, and looks at Double Trouble with a reserved glance. "Everything?" her voice is casual, like she's playing into a joke.

"Everything," Double Trouble responds with a look that should send a bolt of worry through Catra's system. Unfortunately her body was dealing with quite a few other sensations to give it any mind.

Catra stands in the center of the semi-circle of mirrors, legs still wobbly, as Double Trouble looks her up and down.

"You're certainly unstable," Double Trouble is grinning evilly. Catra huffs loudly and looks away. "You're both doing red," they speak like it's destiny.

"I can do that," Adora supplies from in back. Catra chances a glance at her.

Adora was right, if that blush meant anything, she would look stunning in red.

"I'm sure you can dear! Now, do you still have those jeans you loved so much?" Double Trouble stands with a hand on their hip, voice bored.

"Maybe," Catra mutters.

"Nothing to be ashamed of darling! You look sexy in them! Adora is going to love your look," Double Trouble cackles and looks back at Adora. "Could you go find some ties you like? Only bow ties though. That's very important,"

Adora nods and gets up, leaving without another word. Double Trouble unslings one their tapes and loops around to stand in front of Catra.

"Do you know what you're getting into with her?" keeping their voice low.

"What do you mean?" Catra lets herself look confused. She had a good idea where this was going though.

"Well. This is the first time you've ever stuck around a girl for more than a month,"

"Who cares?" Catra grumbles, staring back at her.

"I do as it turns out Catra,"

"Why? You don't owe me anything,"

"I'm worried is all. That you're going to do what you always do,"

"Which is?"

Double Trouble sighs and eyes her sadly "I'm not here to give you all the answers Catra. Just nudges in the right direction,"

"Well you're doing a terrible fucking job of it! Not to mention you aren't even doing the thing you're being paid to do!"

"I already know all your measurements," Double Trouble waves a hand dismissively and stares Catra in the eye. "Now tell me exactly what Adora is to you,"

"It doesn't matter!" Catra is almost yelling.

"Why not?" Double Trouble's head tilts to the side, hanging over their shoulder.

"Because-" Catra doesn't finish. A million voices offer up answers.

_She doesn't feel the same way_

_She all but rejected me_

_She's just using me to get to Prime_

_We're both dying before the year is over_

_As soon as she finds out everything I've done to make it to where I am she'll hate me_

_She's perfect, and I'm me_

Normally she'd be able to control it, because she knew most of them were lies. Today there were too many that felt true. She can feel her lip tremble but she sets her jaw to stop the tears.

"Darling. Just tell her how you feel," Double Trouble reaches out and grabs her hand.

"I can't,"

"Yes you can,"

"I can't! Because she's way too good for me. She'll reject me, _again_. And then everything gets messed up! I actually kind of like where I'm at right now, ok?"

Double Trouble opens their mouth to respond when the doorknob clicks. Instantly they're bending over, wrapping a tape around Catra's ankles. Adora walks in.

The blonde walks over and hands the three different ties to Double Trouble who cards through them. Two shades of black and a crimson.

Double Trouble wrinkles their nose at the last and tosses it away. "My bad really dear. I should have told you, we're working with maroon and burgundy."

Adora wasn't paying attention though, she was currently grinning like an idiot at Catra.

Any heat that had drained from her body in the past few minutes came flooding back just looking at her.

"Your suit will be done as requested . And the pair of you will look absolutely stunning. Adora there will be a dress for you as well,"

"I already hav-"

"Darling don't take this the wrong way but I don't trust your fashion choices. You will be wearing what I give you. Which includes getting rid of that silly hair poof you have,"

Adora opens her mouth to protest but Catra cuts her off.

"Do you even know if the dress will fit?" Catra's eyes narrow. As much as she wanted to high five Double Trouble, presentation was vital tomorrow.

"Darling! I know everything!" Double Trouble bows deeply and stands back up straight, their eyes dancing with mirth. "And if you'd like I can add in something extra exciting from our sister store. For afterward,"

"Nope," Catra replies almost before they've finished.

"You wound me," Double Trouble pouts and walks to the door. "Come along!" They call as they open the door and walk out. Adora grabs onto Catra's hand and hurries after them.

By the time all three are at the register Catra's heart rate is verging on unhealthy. She can feel the pounding blood in her ears and fingers.

Double Trouble fidgets with the register and looks back at Catra expectantly. She fumbles with her wallet and pulls out the credit card Shadow Weaver had given her years ago. It had been a lame excuse at buying love, but it never failed to come in handy.

She swipes the card without even looking at the cost. From Adora's reaction though it probably hadn't been cheap. Double Trouble grins knowingly and gives a too-da-loo with their fingers. Adora grins thankfully and almost drags Catra out of the store. Once their outside Catra digs her heels in a little, slowing the blonde down.

"What are you doing?" She doesn't glare at Adora, but the blonde still shrinks back a little.

"Oh! Do you not want to-? Because I guess I just thought. Since we were- y'know, in there. That you would. since we didn't get to um, continue," Adora rambles, face scrunching up in worry. It takes a second for Catra to understand what she's getting at.

"Oh!" Catra's face lights up and she knows it, but her embarrassment is drowned out by the heat blossoming through her core. "Let's go," she says decisively, already hailing a taxi.

She's vaguely aware of telling the cabbie where to drive, but only just. Her hands were moving in places they probably shouldn't have, and Adora was giving her just as much attention.

They stop outside the duplex Scorpia lives in and it's Catra's turn to drag Adora toward privacy.

She opens the door and gives a cursory "It's Catra!" shout to let Scorpia and her girlfriend know that she isn't an axe murderer.

They breeze through the living room where Scorpia and Perfuma were cuddling and watching TV.

"Oh hey guys! I didn't know-"

"Later," Catra gives them a glance that silences any further conversation as they keep moving toward Catra's room.

It was really a guest bedroom, but she used it the most often and had some clothes in the dresser.

She's ripping off Adora's clothes before the door is even shut and they practically trip into bed, Adora's body weight pressing into her.

She's falling and she knows it. ' _Please just take me down easy_ ,' her thoughts wander before she forcibly shoves them away.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/


	9. love won't desert you, (i hope) you know i still love you

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Adora's arm is falling asleep. Catra was laying on it at just the right angle for tingling pins to start arcing across her skin. She definitely wasn't going to move it any time soon though, Catra was dozing peacefully.

The brunette next to her nuzzles in closer and Adora blinks contentment fueled fatigue from her eyes. Almost out of habit she pulls Catra in just a tiny bit closer, hands ghosting touches onto bare skin.

The brunette next to her mumbles something and presses in closer, draping a leg and arm over Adora's body.

' _I've missed this_ ,' Adora's mind wanders, picking up odd trains of thought before dropping them. They always find their way back to Catra though. As soon as she even senses the subject she willfully shoves her mind into something else. Some recent sports matches, but there's only so much you can do with rugby and soccer.

She tries listing off random things in whatever category comes to mind, switching more often than not.

' _Tree, grass, green, red, blue, sky, cloud, rain, lightning, thunder, gray, black, night, stars, moon, Mars, planets, Pluto, stupid astronomers with their stupid telescopes and math and-_ '

A loud knocking sends her spine into panic mode and she can feel her entire body tense. Catra mphs softly and climbs farther onto her settling heavily with her cheek resting against Adora's clavicle.

"Hey Wildcat? Or Adora actually. Probably,"

When Catra doesn't even open an eye Adora calls back, as softly as she can "Yeah?"

"We made lunch. Well Perfuma made lunch. I kinda loitered in the kitchen while she did. But y'know I was there for moral support. So I guess you could say I helped? Is Catra awake by the way? She doesn't usually say anything when I knock so it's kind of hard to tell,"

Adora glances down at Catra who blinks a couple times before settling back in with them closed. "Yes?" Adora's hesitant. As always Catra refused to use words, but the brunette's glare in response was worth a million.

"Cool! Well we'll set up some plates and stuff in case you guys decide to y'know come out," Scorpia's voice fades as she speaks.

Catra groans loudly from on top of her, and moves until their noses are almost touching. "I can't believe you sometimes Princess," Mismatched irises stare at her annoyed.

"It's only fair. You met my parents, now I get to meet yours," Adora grins the way Catra will hate. Satisfaction runs through her when a familiar blush rises in Catra's cheeks.

"They are not my parents. If anything I'm th-" Catra can't finish because Adora plants a quick peck on her mouth, leaning back before Catra can respond. "You ass," Catra's voice is playful as she slides up Adora's body to kiss her back.

It takes a couple seconds before Catra leans back and smiles evilly. "Fine. We can meet my mostly useless employee and her girlfriend. But don't say I didn't warn you,"

The brunette sits up, blankets falling off of her back and Adora's breath hitches. As often as she'd seen Catra like this she could never get used to it. The woman sitting atop her smiles thoughtfully for a moment, noticing Adora's lack of brain power. "Or we could just stay here for a little while. I'm sure they wouldn't mind,"

Adora doesn't let herself think about the offer, instead choosing to jolt upright, nearly smacking their foreheads together. "If we did that I don't think I'd let you leave until tomorrow," she whispers. Catra's eyes go wide and Adora thinks she can feel a little shiver run through the brunette's body.

"Maybe I'd like that," Catra's breath glances over Adora's ear and it takes most of her willpower not to let her hands settle on Catra's hips.

"I don't think that would be very fair to Scorpia," Adora whispers back, drawling slightly.

"I think she'll understand," Catra murmurs, eyes fluttering slowly.

"Pleeaase?" Adora grins toothily.

"You're a dork," Catra uses a hand to push Adora's face away gently

"Nerd," Adora sticks out her tongue.

"Idiot,"

"Jerk,"

"Jock,"

"You like my muscles," Adora outs a hand to her sternum in mock indognation.

"I never said I didn't. You're just kinda like a high school boy that's into cars. It's like your only personality trait,"

"Not true," Adora leans back. "I also like horses,"

"How could I have forgotten," Catra deadpans.

Adora giggles softly and pushes the brunette out of her lap as gently as she can. She also definitely notices the look of disappointment on Catra's face.

"They obviously want to talk to us. And I'm hungry,"

"Fine," Catra scowls briefly before her features soften again, like she's trying to keep up appearances. Adora grins softly and gets up out of the bed. She can feel Catra's eyes following her and on an impulse throws her hips out a bit farther than she normally would. She can feel a blush flooding her cheeks but doesn't pay any attention to it.

"Do you mind if I borrow some stuff?" she asks over her shoulder.

"Sure," Catra's reply sounds like she was snapped out of a daydream.

Adora shuffles through a couple drawers, grabbing a set of clothes, but hesitates for a second, completely unsure of herself.

With a rush of odd confidence she bends over and slowly slips her feet into the boxers, flexing her calves and quads as she pulls them up her legs.

"You're the fucking Devil," Catra's voice is whiny and halting, like her jaw is clenched.

"I do my best," Adora turns around and smiles brightly, before pulling a hoodie over her head.

Catra's mouth opens and closes once, as her eyes glare at Adora. The blonde lets her think for a moment, enjoying the oddity of Catra's dumbfounded look. "This isn't fair," Catra's complaints fall on deaf ears though, as Adora leans down and hooks her arms under the brunette's thighs and back.

"You should know better by now," Adora lifts her pulling her out of bed

"Adora! Let me down!" Catra squeaks, arms flailing slightly.

"You sure?"

"Yes! I wanna go back to bed!" Catra hits Adora's shoulder softly.

"No can do then. Lunch time Catra," Adora carries the brunette over to the dresser and deposits her gently.

"I hate you," Catra whines softly but Adora smiles anyway, desperately trying to avoid whatever emotions were raging in her gut. She wasn't allowed to feel things like that right now.

"Hmph. The feelings mutual," Adora coos, leaning down, so their noses brush up against each other.

Catra lets out a stage gasp and puts fingertips to her mouth. Adora grins back, like an idiot.

"What is it?" Catra's eyes narrow suspiciously, and Adora sucks in a breath. ' _Shit_ '

"Nothing,"

"You're staring at something Princess,"

Adoras heart flutters heavily. "It's been known to happen when you're around,"

"So now I'm nothing huh?"

Adora "A very sexy and breathtaking nothing,"

"Hmph. I'd like to be let down now," Catra's tone severe.

A little crestfallen Adora dips her left arm and sets Catra on her feet. The brunette turns left slightly to face her, chin tilting up. Adora leans forward to kiss her gently, and Catra pushes back softly.

A flash of panic runs through Adora, who had definitely not thought this out, but Catra doesn't pull away, so neither does Adora.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is that last line vaguely from Don't Go? I honestly can't remember.  
> We're skipping some stuff you might want to read so I apologize in advance, but the main reason this didn't come out for this long is my general inability to write Perfuma, and to a lesser extent Scorpia. But I'ma work on it, because I would like to see those two at some point.


	10. it must be nice, to love someone like me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora figures her shit out finally, and they are both very gay.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Adora stared at the red dress laid out in front of her frowning. "Do I have to?"

Catra grinned evilly at her "DT knows everything Adora. If they want you to wear a dress, then you've gotta wear the dress,"

"Easy for you to say," Adora crossed her arms with a huff and sank into her shoulders slightly. Catra's suit was gaudy, no denying it, but it looked stunning on her figure. Clinging to her hips and legs, while leaving the the jacket hanging loosely. The black bowtie Adora had picked out wasn't even tied, just looped through the collar. It was literally breathtaking.

"Jealous,"

"Considering it's basically mine, no, I'm not," Adora spoke offhandedly, before punching herself off her feet mentally. She could _not_ say shit like that anymore.

"You're awfully confident," Catra drawls softly.

"Well, I uh, have some good reasons to be,"

"Really?" Catra stepped up close and Adora gulped. She was wearing perfume or cologne or something. It was _intoxicating_ up close.

"You haven't told me not to be," Adora mutters, feeling emotions she did not want to be feeling at the moment.

"Hmph. What would you do if I did?" Catra crosses her wrists around the back of Adora's neck and pulls her down with a sharp tug.

Adora splutters for a moment, now staring directly into Catra's mesmerizing eyes. Her stomach does flips immediately. She decides to play along though.

"Well that depends," she replies, hopefully knowing what Catra was after.

"On?" Catra's eyes are hard, something Adora isn't really used to.

"If you actually wanted me to, or if you were just saying it to push my buttons," Adora murmurs, Catra was leaning in, and she follows suit.

Their lips brush against each other and Catra bites down on her bottom lip, harder than usual.

Adora flinches away frowning slightly.

"What?" Catra asks, voice innocent as humanly possible.

"You bit me,"

"It wouldn't be the first time," Catra's eyes glimmer mischievously.

"Yeah, but it was hard. Like you _bit_ me," Adora counters, fighting the urge to rub the offending spot softly.

"Well Princess, I guess you could say... that if I belong to _you_ , then I want the whole world to know, that you also belong to _me_ ," Catra murmurs her response against Adora's ear, unabashedly trailing her hands across Adora's body. Which meant she very definitely felt that jolt of excitement that had just rocked Adora's body.

"I think I'd be okay with that," Adora grabs the brunette by the waist and pulls them together, hips bumping pleasantly.

Her mind was a mess currently, because considering they weren't dating, frequent sex was definitely off the table.

Actually most things she was currently feeling were supposed to be off the table.

Adora doesn't pay any attention to the argument roaring in the back of her head, staring openly at the brunette.

"Oh yeah?" Catra's voice was unmistakably hopeful and Adora grimaces internally. Mind racing she tries to think of something to say.

Catra beats her to it, eyes falling down, and a smirk on her lips. "So you wouldn't mind if, for example, I did this?" She moves as she speaks, gently pulling down Adora's shirt collar. In the same move she presses a soft, sucking, kiss to her neck.

Adora stands, dumbfounded, in silence, the sensation not really hitting home until a few seconds pass.

The soft brush of her teeth snaps Adora's attention to the brunette currently attached to her neck. As soon as she does though, Catra lets go and stares up gleefully.

"Catra! We're meeting Prime, in like, an hour," Adora stares, completely unsure of why she'd just said that.

"Do you care?" Catra stared back, curious. To be entirely honest Adora did care. Which was definitely not the problem here. The problem was that Adora was kind of happy about it. Dangerously so.

She slaps herself mentally. _'Head in the game Greyskull. Head in the god damned game'_

"Th-That's n-not..." Adora frowned trying to think. Which had gotten progressively harder as this whole conversation went on.

"Adora. I know we've talked about this before, but you're being weird right now, so if there's ever anything I do, anything at all, that makes you uncomfortable just tell me. It doesn't even have to be about sex,"

"Yeah, obviously," Adora stutters.

"So is that really ok? I have concealer," Catra bats her eyelashes, worried.

Adora thinks for a moment, arguing with the voice in the back of her head.

_If Prime thinks we're dating, then we kind of have to act like it, which means we're going to be doing everything people do while dating._

_So it would be perfectly logical to leave it out in the open. Perfectly logical._ _And good for the investigation. The less Prime suspects the safer Catra will be._

The voice in the back of her head, which had started this whole debacle, was finally silent, satisfied with her arguments, and she smiles outwardly. "Yeah. I like it,"

Catra visibly relaxes. "Cool,"

Adora bites back a smile, and does her best not to stare openly at the brunette, because she really was astonishing in the suit.

The sat phone in her pocket buzzes and she jumps. She fumbles through her pockets and pulls it out.

_Frosta will be driving you two to dinner. Be punctual_

Adora frowned, trying to put the name to a face. Frosta... she was certain she'd met the girl before.

"What's up?" Catra leans over, head knocking gently into Adora's.

"We have a new driver,"

"Hm. Do you know this new driver of ours?"

"I think so? Maybe," Adora rolls her head back thinking, and Catra wastes no time placing a kiss on her exposed jaw, giggling softly.

"That's not exactly an answer genius,"

"Yeah, but like, I know the name, but I have no idea what she looks like," Adora muses, batting away one of Catra's hands.

"What a coincidence," Catra huffs, almost indignant.

"That you don't know what she looks like either?" Adora asks, visibly confused.

"No idiot. That I don't know what you look in the dress Double Trouble picked for you," Catra flaunts the red fabric in front of her, waving it slightly. "We leave soon, you've gotta get going Princess," Catra's tone is sweet like antifreeze and Adora frowns.

"Do I have to?"

"Yes, yes you do," Catra can barely contain her delight, grinning like an idiot.

Adora frowns slightly, staring at the unappealing piece of red fabric.

"Fine," Adora grabs the dress and lays it over the bed. Without a second thought she strips off her outer layers and slides the annoyingly tailored thing over her head and then downward. Honestly, who made dresses without a zipper?

When she pops her head out the top she fiddles with her hair until she catches Catra staring.

She grins and flexes her arms passively, watching the brunette's eyes light up.

"Hey~ Catra," Adora murmurs, stalking closer to where the woman was currently sitting. "You all good? You haven't blinked in awhile,"

Catra's jaw, which had been hanging open, snaps shut with an audible clack. "Perfect actually," the brunette breathes in deeply before viscerally exhaling.

"Mhmm,"

"Shut up," Catra growls playfully.

"I didn't say anything," Adora's voice is basically a whisper. "But we really should get going. Like you said, we're going to be late soon,"

"R-right," Catra stammers, before feebly offering a hand, garbed in a fingerless glove. Adora takes it quickly and pulls the brunette up to her feet.

They would have to walk to the pick up point, and after that.

They were meeting Prime.

Adora suppresses a rush if excitement at the thought.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-


	11. sweet dreams are made of this, who am i to disagree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who wants to play a game?  
> Starring Entrapta at the end

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're gonna find out some stuff about Adora that we might not all like, but it is important for her character in this story.  
> Catra has a day dealing with Prime amd Adora is just kind of around, doing her best to be supportive.  
> 

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Catra and Adora get to the pick-up point two minutes early, and mostly just loiter. Adora shivers at some point and Catra wraps herself around the blonde's torso to help warm her up. But other than that not much happens.

Adora could already sense Catra was nervous. She was never this quiet after all.

Catra almost deflates when their car appears. Adora smiles reassuringly and opens the door.

A shorter woman, who upon further inspection is no older than 20, is sitting in the driver's seat. At least she is vaguely familiar, but Adora still waits for them to talk first.

They pull down a pair of aviators "Adora?"

"And you are?"

"Frosta. No kissing in my goddamn car,"

Adora bites back a retort and lets Catra get in first. With a loud thud she pulls the car door closed, probably harder than she had to.

"Alrighty lovebirds," Frosta puts the car in drive, and off they go.

Adora glances at Catra every now and again, worried. The brunette had her arms wrapped around her stomach, and her head was bobbing, weaving, and rocking back then forth.

Gently, Adora reaches out a hand and touches Catra's elbow. The brunette turns slowly to look at her. Even in the low light she was ash pale. "Hold my hand?" she whispers, and Catra smiles slightly, and holds out her hand.

Adora twines their fingers, rubbing circles over the knuckles in Catra's thumb.

At least she seems to calm down a little. 

The drive feels like it takes forever, but Adora's phone tells her it's only ten minutes.

"Captain wants you two to wear wires,"

"It won't work," Catra replies instantly.

"Well she wants you to, so..."

"He'll know. And then we're dead," Catra says, with a harder edge to her voice.

Frosta shrugs. "Whatever. If the Captain asks I told you you were supposed to alright,"

"Yeah," Adora confirms as they get out of the car together. 

Adora stares for a moment. The restaurant is even bougie-er than Adora was anticipating. She didn't make it to this side of town much, but man had she been missing out. The fountain out front alone is mesmerizing.

"You coming Princess?" Catra weakly tries to be her old playful self, but her voice catches in the back of her throat.

Adora smiles anyway. "Of course,"

And they link arms again to walk through the massive glass doors that serve as the entrance.

The hostess looks at Catra with an odd look in her eyes that Adora willfully ignores.

The last thing she wanted was to cause a scene on their way to meet Prime.

"Do you two have reservations tonight?" her voice is even faux-innocent, and her stupid eyes are on Catra the entire time.

"Yeah," Catra supplies, quite helpfully.

The girl smiles sweetly. "And what would the name be for that?"

Catra sets her shoulders and smirks mischievously. "The usual name," she smiles dangerously, staring the hostess down for some reason.

The hostess visibly pales, and offers a weak grin. "Of course ma'am. If you would both just, follow me please,"

The girl turns and leads them through the main dining area. Some people stare with recognition in their eyes, and Catra scowls at them. They quickly turn their attention back to their meals.

The three of them come to an unassuming set of doors that the hostess pushes through hastily. A staircase of marble steps stands in front of them.

"Just up these, then on your left," the hostess points up at a forty-five degree angle.

"I know," Catra's reply is terse, and Adora glances over worried.

"I... yes, of course ma'am," the hostess turns to leave hurriedly.

Catra sucks in another breath violently and lets her shoulders fall as she exhales.

"Ready?" Adora whispers into Catra's ear. The brunette responds by lifting her chin and setting herself rigidly.

They walk up the stairs slowly, Adora holding onto a rail. When they turn left a blonde haired man with golden eyes smiles graciously. "Catra and Adora! Welcome to the Enchanted Grotto! Your table is waiting," and waits for them to get a bit closer before turning and walking off briskly. Catra tugs Adora forward so they match his pace.

Lounge music is coming from a stage, and the decor is almost jungle-esque with plants seemingly everywhere.

Gold light shimmered on pillars and columns, illuminating the gold trimmed basalt and marble architecture. A shallow dome caps the expansive room, covered in a myriad of murals. Satin drapes hang from a second floor balcony that rings around the top. A line of poles and stages line the sides, recessed under the overhangs. They were all empty (which Adora is grateful for). It almost feels like a casino.

Adora can barely keep her mouth from hanging open.

There's a table in the center with two figures sitting at it, with a perfect view of the stage where a blue clad performer is singing.

"Your host for the evening," the gold eyed man smiles again before bowing deeply and shuffling off.

Prime turns in his seat with a laugh. "I'd worried you'd gotten lost," and waves them close. Adora can't put her finger on the aura he gives off, but it's eerily familiar.

Her mouth dries as she pulls Catra's chair out and then takes her own seat.

It was difficult not to stare at the man. Least of all because he was at least 6'8" and built like a professional bodybuilder. It was mostly that his face had two tattoos, one above and below his right eye. Both were neon green eyes, almost animalistic, with pupils dilated to slits. And his hair made into a bun at the back.

His bodyguard was somehow less intimidating than he was and Adora feels a grudging sliver of respect emerge from the deepest parts of her subconscious.

"I took the liberty of ordering us champagne. I imagine we'll be needing a bit more than a bottle before the night is over though," Prime laughs as he speaks, throwing his head back.

Adora gets the eerie sensation the tattooed eyes are watching her.

"Your generosity is appreciated. But unneeded," Catra replies with, what Adora is shocked to realize, a very healthy dose of respect.

"Nonsense sister! Tonight is a night for celebration! I would be scandalized if we did not at least share a toast to our future success,"

"Of course," Catra proffers a smile.

Another person comes over carrying an open bottle of what Adora assumes is ludicrously expensive champagne.

Four flutes are poured out and she's vaguely aware of picking one up, and raising it with a clink. She's still puzzling over Prime. He was oddly familiar.

When Prime is done with his first drink he produces a small white envelope from thin air. "A gift for you." Catra takes it and stares at the paper surface. "Open it," Prime says with a little more command in his voice than Adora cares for.

"What does it cost?" Catra asks, suspicious.

"Absolutely nothing sister. Like I said, it's a goodwill gift. 

The brunette frowns as she takes out a folded bit of stationary from it's container and reads through it, eyes darkening as they flit downward.

"What is it?" Adora asks, trying her best not to sound desperately confused.

"I suppose you could call them the rules of engagement for our little game," Prime stares her in the eyes as he talks, and Adora suppresses a chill down her spine. ' _How the hell does he know about that this quickly?'_

"Again. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. But what are the consequences of breaking a rule?"

"There are no consequences," Prime says with a small smile.

"You're lying," Catra challenges.

"Quite right!" Prime is faux-sweet "But I'm not going to tell you what they are just yet. Far more interesting to parse them out," His smile doesn't waver and Adora can almost swear his teeth seem to glow neon green too.

"Can I see them?" Adora asks, now thoroughly interested.

"No!" Prime snarls, glaring openly at her. She doesn't flinch though and he seems surprised by that, but shakes himself out of it quickly.

"What do you do for a living Adora? I know quite a bit about Catra here, but you're a slightly bigger mystery,"

"Well. I uhhh. I _was_ a Captain, in the Marine Corps," Adora tries to mumble it out, hopelessly. She can see Catra almost spit out a mouthful of champagne.

"Fascinating. Did you do anything interesting during your time in the service?"

"Well, I guess that depends on what you'd call interesting," Adora picks her words carefully, gauging the response of the table. Catra's eyes were still on her, if a bit wider, and Prime seemed honestly involved.

"Oh the usual I suppose. Any tours? Any daring stories?"

No way she could avoid this one. "Well... I did two tours in the Middle East,"

"Fascinating. Were you in perhaps, the UAE or Kuwait, or rather Iraq and Afghanistan?"

"They were both... uh, combat– oriented,"

"Oriented?"

"Uh, yeah. It wasn't the only thing we did, but it was definitely one of the bigger, uh activities we had,"

"I suppose it would be rude to ask about your combat proficiency and accomplishments,"

"I suppose," Adora replies weakly, rigidly holding her thoughts from wandering away from her.

"I can't help but notice you said was, rather than am. I seem to recall seeing your face somewhere recently... the newspaper perhaps?"

"It's possible," Adora agrees, hopelessly.

"Yes, it was. Oh what was it?-" Prime goes silent. "-You must have been in that article about the SWAT Team,"

Adora's blood goes cold. "I think I remember something about that,"

"Oh yes, I'm certain of it now. Are you still the SWAT Team? Adora,"

"Actually, I was put on an indefinite leave of absence today, so not really anymore," Adora mutters, finishing her champagne as she finishes speaking.

"I'm sorry to hear that for you. Would you then be looking for meritorious employment at present?"

"Yeah. Kind of,"

"Well then, I believe I'm ready to order. Are you both as well?" Prime glances between the two of them, grinning faintly.

"Yeah," Catra responds for the both of them. Prime smiles and gestures for the gold eyed man to come back over. Adora looks around the table trying to find a menu. Panic fills her chest when she realizes there isn't one.

"Lobster and crab," Prime says vaguely and nods once, hands folded neatly in front of him atop the table.

"Tomato Tofu Ceviche. And she'll have the wagyu filet," Catra orders for her and relief floods Adora's system. It sounded perfect.

As the server walks away a silence falls over the table. Almost on cue a piano starts a melody, and a trumpet swells into a xylophone. It sounded like a full jazz band. Adora cranes her head to watch.

"Sweet dreams are made of th _is_. Who am I to disz-uh-greee," the voice seems to swing into the song perfectly mixing with the beat and melody alike. The singer wasn't on stage yet though. "Some of them want to use you, some of them want to be used by you," and the blue clad performer from before bursts onto stage with a flourish from some back-up singers..

"Double Trouble certainly has a sense of humor these days," Prime's voice is dry, as the band keeps playing.

"But that's-"

"Peakablue. I'm aware," Disdain seeps from Prime's voice.

Catra falls silent. The trumpets swell again. Adora eyebrows scrunch up in confusion, how much stuff did Double Trouble do for Prime exactly?

Nobody speaks and Adora opens her mouth to ask a question, before getting poked in the ribs by Catra. She glares at the brunette, but in the corner of her eye she sees Prime grin.

"I have no interest in further conversation until after we've eaten," Prime supplies helpfully, now leaning back in his chair, eyes closed. Adora's heart rate picks up as she looks at his tattoos, and she frowns slightly.

Her eyes wander aimlessly around the room. There were an awful lot of people in here for an exclusive club. The bar was almost full, and people milled around the second floor listlessly. She settles on Catra for a moment. The trumpet blares in the background and the brunette gives a sultry smirk. ' _That was a mistake_ ,' and tries to pry her gaze away, but unsurprisingly can't.

Adora can feel a blush flare across her face and she sips at the champagne violently. She's also vaguely aware of the song changing, as a bass line reverberates through the lounge. She glances up at stage, where Double Trouble was standing in front of the mic.

"Never know how much I love you. Never know how much I care. When you put your arms around me. I get a a fever that's so hard to bear-" Their vocals are soft and low.

Catra's hand finds her knee and her head snaps onto the brunette, whose eyes were burning with an intensity she hadn't seen before. Which is saying quite a bit.

"Do contain yourself sister," Prime's eyes aren't open and Adora flinches. How the hell was he doing that?

"Oh~ does it make you uncomfortable?" Catra shoots back immediately, hand sliding farther up Adora's leg and rests loosely on the exterior side of her thigh.

"I've made my opinion on the idiocies of mankind's animalistic past quite clear in sister. I can't believe you let her come in here with that hideous mark on her neck to begin with," Prime's disdain seeps through his voice. Adora opens her mouth to argue, but Catra cuts her off.

"A shame you didn't make a rule about it then," voice verging on outright glee.

Prime's nostrils flare and his eyes open, to glare at her. Catra smirks in response.

"I suppose," Prime mutters, jaw clenching. Catra inches her chair closer to Adora's, before taking her hand, and smiling easily.

Her hand clenches around Adora's though, and it's covered in cold sweat. She squeezes a bit in response, tracing her thumb in a circle once.

"Your meals are ready," the gold haired man arrives, holding his hands behind his back. Four separate servers arrive carrying plates and set them down simultaneously.

Adora's mouth waters, as steam rises off the perfectly seared steak.

Prime tears open a crab leg and takes a mouthful.

Trying to not seem too excited she knifes off a portion of meat and inhales it. With a hum of satisfaction she lets her eyes wander over the rest of the plate. The serving size was small, but at least she had a potato, and a weird pile of multicolored string beans.

Conversation dies between them as they watch the show while eating.

Prime finishes first, setting his cloth napkin on the table, and turns to face them. "Tonight has been enjoyable, but I'm afraid I have to leave now. I'll be in touch. I have errands for you to run in Eternia with Double Trouble. And there are some here before those. I believe you will be of use for these excursions also Adora, so if you want a job, simply accompany Catra on her way," Prime smiles graciously before leaving in a blink, out a different set of doors than they'd used to enter.

Catra lets out a microscopic breath of relief. Adora inhales the last bite of her meal before nudging Catra. "You wanna get out of here?"

The brunette thinks for a moment. "Let's get a drink first," and takes Adora by the hand. There's an empty slot at the bar seating thankfully. Catra takes the seat, while Adora stands.

The bartender raises an eyebrow at Catra in recognition, and with an odd amount of familiarity. "Vieux Carré,"

"And you?" the woman turns to Adora.

"Uh. An Old Fashioned I guess,"

"Alright," and she turns around to make their drinks.

"You are, oh so reliably, basic," Catra nudges into her affectionately.

"They're good," Adora says defensively, and wraps her arms around Catra.

"I never said they weren't," Catra murmurs, leaning her head to the side so she can look at Adora, who huffs in mock indignation. At least Catra laughs slightly.

"Here ya go," the bartender sets two glasses down in front of them.

"Thanks Lonnie!" Catra calls after the woman as she walks off to help someone else. Lonnie lazily waves a hand over her shoulder. Adora grabs hers while keeping one arm around Catra. They lounge there, sipping at their drinks for a while, Adora not quite sure what she should be feeling at the moment, but the scotch warms her core, and she hugs Catra a bit closer.

She finishes hers first, and sets the glass down. Catra eyes it before downing the rest of hers.

"Ready?" Adora asks softly. Catra nods once and they make their way through the gaudy lounge. Down the stairs then through the Seagate and out the door.

They wait in silence holding each other close while Patch comes to get them.

"How'd it go?" the agent asks when all the doors are closed.

When Catra doesn't answer Adora speaks "Fine,"

"Fine?" Patch looks at them through the rearview mirror and Adora scowls.

"Yeah. Fine. Nothing more, nothing less,"

Patch glowers fora moment before going silent until they exit the car. She does wordlessly hand Adora a SAT phone, and her pistol, as they leave.

They stand, motionless, for a moment

"Hey Adora," Catra asks, voice small

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if we get going? I don't want to be out here longer than we have to be,"

"No problem!" Adora wraps an arm around Catra's waist. They walk silently, and Adora mostly drinks in the brunette's company. She also watches the night sky, which has a couple stars out tonight. A small miracle if she's honest.

They're shivering when they make it into Catra's building, but the walk up the stairs gets their blood pumping a bit.

The door is already unlocked and Adora frowns, but Catra is unperturbed. A bark echoes through the walls and Adora tenses. The dog is even a shepard mix, and she curses softly.

"Hi Emily," Catra says tiredly as she detaches from Adora's grip and plods forward, kicking off her shoes as she does. Adora slips off her own and stoops down to pet the dog, Emily, a little.

She grins like an idiot when the dog leans against her, tail wagging happily.

Her heart stops though when she hears Catra talking faintly. "Entrapta?"

And her blood goes cold when a voice, that she's very familiar with, responds. "Oh Catra! I thought you might be dead. But I'm glad to see you're still breathing!"

"Good to see you too. Have you been taking care of Melog?"

"Of course! Two cups of food a day! And all the other stuff,"

"Thank you. Are you coming Adora?"

"Yup!" Adora shouts back, cursing internally. She points down the hall and Emily walks off, following her finger. They come into what seems to be the living room, where Entrapta and Catra are standing.

The older woman smiles awkwardly and waves slightly. If Catra notices it she doesn't say anything. "We still have a landline right?"

"Yup,"

"Ok cool. I've gotta call Scorpia quick," and disappears before Adora can offer to go with her. Not that she'd need help, but it was a much better alternative to this conversation.

"Hi Adora,"

"Entrapta. I'm surprised to see you,"

"It's temporary,"

"And long term I'm guessing," Adora says, voice terse.

Emtrapta smiles gently "And complicated,"

"It always is with him," Adora spits, almost bristling now.

"I know what you think of your father Adora-"

"Foster father," Adora interjects.

"-but he only wants what's best,"

"For who?"

Entrapta bobs her head, staring at her own feet. "You should already know the answer to that,"

"Himself. Exactly. He's an arrogant narcissistic asshole,"

"Adora-" Entrapta trails off, obviously frustrated, but Adora doesn't care. She's right without a reasonable doubt. If her foster "mother" had anything to say she's interrupted by Catra's return.

The brunette blinks once, head turning slowly between the two of them. She visibly shrugs. "Ready for bed?" she asks, giving Adora an out.

"Yeah," and the two walk off before Entrapta can speak again.

Once they're in her bedroom, Catra holds out the piece of stationary Prime had given her.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**The Rules of Our Game:**

Rule 1: Your entourage is not allowed to know the rules

Rule 2: I will not change the rules

Rule 3: You and your entourage will not be watched or followed in any way. You and your entourage will not follow me in any way

Rule 4: Neither of us is allowed to use a cellphone at any point

Rule 5: No one will wear red or blue while attending meetings

Rule 6: You sell what I want you to sell, on time

Rule 7: We are allowed to lie, as long as the other doesn't realize it

Rule 8: Accusations will cost nothing, unless they become incessant

Rule 9: No guns

Rule 10: The stakes are life without exception

Rule 11: Until the game ends, physical violence is prohibited

-The Gamemaster

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As Adora reads the list her brows furrow. She willfully ignores number ten. "How do you know, like for example, what if like uh, Rule 2 is a lie,"

"He isn't like that. Rules are important to him, sacred even," Catra's voice is terse. A spike of worry runs through Adora's chest.

"I guess if you're sure about it," Adora mumbles.

"I am,"

"Ok. And you're comfortable breaking those rules?"

"He won't know about it, as long as we do this right." Catra's arms snake around her and clutches her close, like a boa constrictor. The brunette's face is buried against her sternum before she can even speak words of reassurance. They fall back on Catra's bed and shimmy into a somewhat comfortable position.

With a jolt she realizes the woman in her arms is stifling tears, the warm droplets of water leaking onto her shirt.

"It's okay," Adora murmurs, rubbing circles on the small of Catra's back while pressing a kiss onto her head. "Everything's okay. You're safe,"

They lay like that for hours, before Adora feels Catra's breathing deepen with sleep. It doesn't take long for her to fall asleep too.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/


	12. time's arrow [ran backwards, just for me]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra makes a friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people! I'm not dead. If you thought we were getting a resolution on the last chapter... that won’t be happening for a while. Also, Catra is stressed constantly. Adam is basically the MCU’s Thor (particularly the Ragnarok version)  
> Side note, in my mind Etheria is kinda like Milwaukee and Eternia is kinda like Chicago, if that helps you all visualize the setting of this.  
> I wrote and rewrote several different versions and permutations of this chapter, all starting at different points in time, until I landed on this one. And while it is the best option in my opinion… my life just got a lot harder in terms of writing this well. Ended with me breaking this chapter up into two pieces. Posted this, and will post the next soon, cause I feel bad, but as a PSA I really haven’t started on chapter 14, so I’m sorry in advance. I’m giving myself a week until I post 13 to get to work, but we’ll see how well that works out. I also rewrote the first 11 chapters in varying degrees of depth, so if you’re interested in that they are kinda sorta brand newish as of March 1st.

Catra’s eyes open slowly, not wanting to really wake up. Her eyes find a clock in their peripherals and she says "Fuck," aloud. 

_10 AM_

Sharon was going to kill her. She tosses herself from the mattress and starts throwing on clothes over her pajamas.

She darts out the front door without another word. 

She slides into her driver seat easily and turns the engine over. She takes a deep breath and tightens her grip.

She's pushing the gas down before her car is even in gear. The fact that she almost hits a few pedestrians is irrelevant. God Sharon was gonna be pissed. She pulls into the small driveway with screeching wheels and dashes inside.

"Catrina!" Sharon's shrieking voice shreds through her ears as Catra comes through the door.

She jumps, and groans loudly.

"What?!" she shouts back, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Where have you been all night?" Sharon screams... yeah she's pissed.

"Oh-"

"Never mind that! You're late for school," 

"It's summer!"

"Aren't you in summer school!?"

"No!" Catra tries to keep the exasperation from her voice. It's the fucking end of July.

"There's no need for attitude young lady! It was an honest mistake, with your grades it isn't a stretch of the imagination!" 

' _Bullshit_ ' Catra thinks to herself. She had a 4.0, every single year in high school. She had a fucking full ride scholarship. She had been accepted into the business and economics program at _the_ University of Eternia. And she had done it all by herself. Not that she would have wanted Sharon's help. 

"So where were you?"

"Scorpia's! Jesus, it was for college stuff,"

"Hmph. Well if you don't have school you could at least be useful and do something,"

"Yup. As soon as I get ready,"

"Or- you can help out now before you go fall asleep like the useless orphan I found years ago," Sharon's voice is ice and Catra scowls.

"Of course," 

"Of course what?"

"Forget it. I'm going back to bed. If you need me to do something I'll do it when I wake up," Catra grumbles. Sharon is dumbfounded for once, and Catra allows herself to smile slightly as she walks up the stairs. She was finally free from this bullshit. She would be leaving in a month, for everything she’d ever dreamed of. She can hear Sharon mumble something but she doesn’t bother asking what she had actually said.

She kicks her door shut and flops back into bed, before pulling out her phone and texting Scorpia an apology.

She doesn’t actually fall back asleep. but relaxes for as long as she can.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

“What the fuck?!” Catra screams.

“Language,” Sharon replies, flipping through her magazine.

“Where’s my car,” Catra growls, sitting down across from her foster mother.

“My car you mean. It was my property, so I got to decide what to do with it. Just, like, you,” Sharon doesn’t bother looking up at her..

“Whatever. Your car. Where is it?”

“I sold it,”

“You what?!”

“I sold it Catrina! Do you need hearing aids?”

“No! I mean how could you sell it! I’m moving in three days,”

“Maybe you should have told me that then. I wouldn’t have if you would just tell me about what’s going on in your life,”

“I’ve told you three times!”

“You most certainly did not. Perhaps you just meant to tell me, but forgot. You are rather forgetful,”

“I told you,” Catra mutters.

Sharon looks up and glares at her. “No you didn’t. Are you trying to tell me I’m a liar?”

“No,” Catra clenches her jaw, and stares back for a moment.

“Good,” Sharon looks back down.

“Could you at least help me find a car for Saturday?”

Sharon hmphs but doesn’t actually answer. Catra yanks herself out of her chair and practically runs up to her room. She slams the door behind her as hard as she can and grabs her phone, hands starting to tremble slightly. She can feel the tears swelling up in her eyes, but blinks them back as the line starts ringing.

“Hey Wildcat! What’s up?”

“Sharon sold my fucking car,” Catra spits out, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

“Oh- oh no. Do you have a plan?” Scorpia asks, voice a little lost.

“No,” Catra curses herself mentally, her voice had cracked, and tears were starting to stream down her face.

“Hey! It’s okay. It’s okay! My moms can figure something out. And I know you don’t like handouts or whatever so we can call it an IOU or something,”

“You sure?”

“Of course! That’s what we’re here for right? To help each other out,”

“Thanks Scorp. I mean it,” Catra mumbles, the weight in her gut starting to evaporate.

“No problem Wildcat! I’ve gotta get you to that college so you can show them all how awesome you are!”

Catra laughs softly, and sits down her bed, before falling onto her side, listening to Scorpia’s jokes.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Catra wheels her little cart up the ramp to the door and pushes it up against the elevator. It opens with a pleasant ding, and she rushes in, the stack of stuff she was moving beginning to tip precariously over the edge. With a huff she rearranges it enough that her worries are put to rest. When the doors reopen, her ears are bombarded with sound. She groans softly, the amount of freshmen families just wandering around filling the place up is minority astounding.

She tries to navigate the mess as carefully as possible, but she still bumps into a couple onlookers. She pays them a short apology, before moving on as quickly as possible. She opens her room’s door with a sigh of relief, and hurries to get in. She closes the door haphazardly and looks around, to find hr roommate already waiting for her.

“Hey, you must be Catra,”

“Yeah. so you’re Octavia?”

“Yup,”

“Well it’s uh- nice to meet you,”

“Yeah, you too. You need help with the rest of your stuff?” 

“Uhh. yeah, that would be great,” Catra looks around the room, and clasps her hands together nervously.

“I already took my side of the room. Hope that’s cool,”

“Yeah, uh- yeah definitely cool,”

Octavia nods and shuffles to the side, and Catra starts unpacking her stuff, as methodically as she had packed it in the first place.

“So what’s your major?” she asks, glancing over her shoulder as she spreads out the blankets and sheets on her bed.

“Undeclared right now. There’s a lot of stuff I’m interested in,” Octavia says, now scrolling through her phone.

“Cool,”

“How about you?”

“I honestly can’t remember the name, but it’s something to do with business and econ,”

“Really?” Octavia asks dubious.

Catra turns and stares at her. “ Octavia cocks an eyebrow. “You must have damn good luck then,” she says, before looking back down at her phone.

“Something like that,” Catra mutters. She moves toward the door with her now empty cart, and opens it. Octavia jumps up and walks after her, as she again bobs and weaves through the mess of people currently inhabiting their hallway.

Between the two of them it probably takes longer to bring everything, the way Octavia stacked stuff was atrocious, but Catra holds her tongue. She didn’t want to burn this bridge on the first day after all.

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Catra shuffles along, on her way to Calc 2, nursing the coffee in her hands. Whose bright idea had it been to have math at 8 in the fucking morning? She groans softly as she pushes through the doors of the college, and triesnot to stumble into the classroom. First semester had been a fucking breeze, but this was really starting to kick her ass. She slides into her seat and waits patiently for her professor to start, only vaguely paying attention. Her notes are probably less thorough than they should be but she really can’t bring herself to care. Today was mostly review at least, so that certainly helps. When the class gets dismissed she’s the first out the door, hurrying back to her dorm to try to sleep for an hour before her next class. She crashes into her bed after taking off her backpack, and shifts uneasily. When she can’t quite settled she sits up and swears.

Across the room Octavia chuckles and gives her a look. “You need some relaxation. You’re gonna run yourself ragged,”

“Can’t. I don’t have any time to,” Catra mutters, walking over to their coffee pot to start another batch.

“Just one time. I’ve got places for whenever you’re free. And that can last you until summer, yeah?”

“I mean…”

“Come on. You won’t keep your 4.0 if you die of a caffeine induced heart attack,”

“Won’t need the scholarship then so it’s pretty much a win win,” Catra mutters, staring as the coffee starts filling up the pot.

“Just let me know okay?” Octavia says amiably, going back to her work. Catra grumbles unintelligibly, before taking a sip of her coffee and sitting back at her desk. Her homework wasn’t going to do itself…

To be fair, Catra does last another three weeks before she agrees to go to a party.

She sucks in a nervous breath as they stand out the house, which had music faintly emanating from the front door.

“Hey you good?” Octavia asks, obviously worried.

“Yeah,” Catra replies, clenching one of her fists.

“You ever been to one of these?” her roommate asks beside her.

“Nope,” Catra mutters.

“Oh shit. Okay, well… just stick with me. I’ll make sure you don’t get too fucked up. And that nothing bad happens to you,” Octavia gives her a reassuring look before walking off. Catra walks after her. She probably should’ve specified, she drank somewhat regularly, sometimes with Scorpia and sometimes alone, but the whole party scene wasn’t really her thing.

Octavia opens the front door and they enter, Catra closing the door gently behind them.

Almost instantly she flinches backward, the music hurting her ears and reverberating in her lungs.

“Come on!” Octavia yells over the noise and tugs her through the crowd of people in between them and the kitchen. At least there were fewer people around. Octavia starts mixing stuff and Catra wrinkles her nose slightly, before grabbing a bottle of tequila and pouring it into a solo cup.. When she’s comfortable with how full it is she sets the bottle down and picks up the cup. Octavia snatches it away instantly. “Nuh-uh. We do _not_ drink liquor straight at parties. Especially if you’re new at this,”

Catra stares annoyed before settling the bottle down as Octavia lets go of her wrist. “So what does this go good with?”

“Tequila?”

“Was I pouring something else into my cup?”

“Shut up,” Octavia says at least somewhat playfully. “Uhh, they’ve got pineapple or orange juice,”

“Pineapple,” Catra says and Octavia passes the bottle over carefully.

“You know how to measure shots or anything?”

Catra shakes her head, opening the juice.

“Uhhh… ‘kay, so-“ Octavia grabs the tequila again and carefully measures out some of it in a new cup. “-Add the juice to this,” she says handing the new one to Catra, who does as she’s told. She adds a straw to top it off and sips gently. It was pleasant for sure, maybe a little too pleasant for her tastes but then again, she wasn’t here to get hammered. This was supposed to be laid back fun to help her relax a bit. Nothing else…

Octavia looks at her expectantly. “Uh, it’s good,” Catra mutters, taking a long drag from her straw. Octavia nods satisfied and leads the way back to the main room, where the music is almost unbearable. A group of people congregated around a table start waving them over.

“I gotta go kick their asses in beer pong I guess,” Octavia sighs exaggeratedly.

“That’s cool,” Catra yells back over the music, and Octavia nods once gratefully. Catra wanders around slowly. There weren’t many pretty girls at this party… that were her type anyway. She makes her way up a flight of stairs and pokes her head into a few different rooms. She was looking for a cat or even a dog to cuddle with. She almost gives up hope before peeking into the very last one.

A blonde guy was shifting his weight between his legs, leaning this way then that in a wide stance. Cary can’t help a laugh from spilling out of her mouth. The blonde guy whirls around and gives her a confused look. “What are you doing here?” he asks with a raspy voice.

“Looking for a cat?” Catra replies looking around slowly.

“Well you’re in luck! The animal of the house is somewhere around here. He’s a feisty little one, but I’ve got him cornered,”

“You cornered him?”

“Affectionately. The goofball knows me, and likes me I might add, but he can be a little odd during parties,”

“Sure,” Catra mutters, stepping into the room. She wrinkles her nose on reflex. This guy reeked of cigarettes. “So where’s the cat?”

“Somewhere over there,” the guy gestures vaguely, at an entire half of the room.

“Very helpful,” she mutters, sipping at her drink. She moves to stand next to him and keeps her eyes wandering around. A flicker of movement catches her eyes and she kneels down, looking in the shadowy corners.

“You come to these often?” the guy asks, and Catra bites back a scowl. She really didn’t want to talk to him.

“I like girls,” she mutters back, doing her best to growl.

The guy’s face lights up and she groans. If this idiot said something weird, she might just break his nose.

“What a coincidence!” the guy almost yells. “I also like women!”

“I kinda figured,” Catra mutters going back to looking for the cat. It wasn’t the worst it could have been, but honestly… couldn’t he take a hint?

“I guess I kinda did too,” he says, taking an obnoxious swig of beer,

“What’s the supposed to mean?” Catra asks tiredly, inching closer and closer to shadow that isn’t quite as deep as the others.

“The flannel I guess? I don’t know. You kind of remind me of my sister. She was also a “Friend of Mara” you see,”

Catra looks back at him incredulously. “What?”

“Is that not a common term? She used it pretty regularly,”

“Never heard it before,”

“Ah… well whatever. She’s kind of strange about those things. I’m Adam by the way. If you care at all,”

Catra hmphs loudly before slowly reaching out a hand and setting it down in front of the black cat. The cat sniffs it cautiously before darting away from it’s corner, right toward Adam, who catches the cat as it jumps up near his arms.

“Hello little one,” Adam says amiably, petting the cat gently. Catra scoffs and stands up.

“So they really do like you, huh _Adam_ ,”

“Indeed. He’s a very good cat, and deserves the best cuddles of course,” Adam smiles stupidly at the animal in his arms.

“I’m Catra,” she mutters, sipping at her drink again.

“A pleasure to meet you,” Adam offers an elbow to bump and Catra complies.

The cat wiggles a bit and Adam opens his arms to let them out. The cat hesitates for a second, to head-bump Catra’s leg once, before scurrying back under the bed.

Catra smiles for a moment and looks at Adam. “So what happened to this sister of yours?”

“Ohh, she gets to go to _West Point_ instead of this little old place,” Adam flips his hands, and Catra flinches expecting beer to go everywhere, but it doesn’t.

“So she’s joining the military then?” Catra frowns.

“Kinda sorta. Like, the military is offering her a somewhat ok amount of money to be commissioned by them, once she’s done with college and all that, so like… yeah. Yeah she’s joining the military,” Adam trails off when he sees her face go blank.

“I see…” Catra did not in fact see why that made much of a difference but whatever. “You wanna come with me to hit on some cute girls?” She asks, walking for the door. She’d have to come back a couple times before this cat would actually trust her, so no point waiting around.

“Hmm. I could stay here with Salem,” Adam rests his chin on a fist exaggeratedly.

“Sure,” Catra agrees, and walks off without another word. She can hear footsteps behind her as Adam catches up, closing the door behind himself.

“I’ve needed a wing person,” he says, a little too excitedly for Catra’s taste. Adam was very… _energetic_. Maybe a little too much so for her tastes. Maybe.

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End file.
